By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 14, 2020 | Talk about a homecoming!
The Norcross Presbyterian Church is returning to its original downtown location at 89 Jones Street, right across from the entrance to Lillian Webb Park. The church since 1972 has been worshiping at 3324 Medlock Bridge Road. After years of declining membership, it recently sold its building to a Vietnamese First Baptist congregation, which draws its membership from all of Metro Atlanta, and was meeting in the Stone Mountain area. That church has about150 members.
The Norcross Presbyterians, part of the Presbytery of Atlanta of the Presbyterian Church, USA, had originally been built in downtown Norcross in 1899, the structure it is returning to. The church was founded in 1830 as Goshen Presbyterian Church, near what is now Interstate 85.
Mayor Craig Newton of Norcross says: “The city of Norcross purchased the old historic building a few years ago in order to preserve its historic character as it complements the old town charm, look and feel in downtown. We transferred the property to our DDA in an effort to repurpose the building with the intent that its historic nature would remain unchanged. Now we are more than pleased to welcome the Norcross Presbyterian Church congregation back home. They have mentioned plans to bring some of the original windows and other artifacts back to the church.”
Its senior pastor since 2003, Dr. Matt Fry, who lives in Peachtree Corners, says the congregation has for several months been holding services only online because of the pandemic. While there is no set time to resume in-person services, the church must first renovate its former building. It is now talking with architects and anticipates to have a construction contract soon, hopefully completing the work by the end of the year.
When the church moved to its Medlock Bridge Road location, it had about 150 members. It had a peak membership in the 1990s of about 350 members. Since then it has been declining in membership, like many other congregations, and now has a membership of about 50. Jason Bernardo, the church administrator, says they “feel the downtown building will be just the right size.”
The church bought its new location from the Downtown Norcross Development Authority for $645,000. It had sold its Medlock facility to the Vietnamese congregation for approximately $2 million. It took possession of the downtown church about a week ago.
What was then the Goshen Presbyterian Church moved to Norcross right after the railroad arrived in 1870. Later three churches, the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterians, shared one building on the west side of the railroad tracks on what was then called Holy Row, now Sunset Drive (All three congregations built residences for their pastors on that street.) Eventually, the Baptists constructed a facility of its own across from Thrasher Park. When the Methodists built their church near the present-day Lillian Webb Park, the Presbyterians worshiped with them until they had their own building in 1899.
Dr. Fry is a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., but moved to Atlanta when an infant. He is a graduate of Flagler College of St. Augustine, Fla., a 1999 graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, with a Masters of Divinity degree. He obtained his Doctorate of Ministry in 2008 from Columbia Theological Seminary. He has been an ordained minister since 1999, and has been the senior pastor at Norcross Presbyterian since 2003. He is father to two daughters. He enjoys jogging and completing half marathons.
The Norcross Presbyterians have a rich history, being known as the church in Norcross that fought for integration in the 1960s. Its web site says that “Our common bond is that we know that together we are stronger than we can be alone.”
Welcome back to your old home, Presbyterians.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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