A Bilingual Catholic Parish on Roscoe Road
St. George Catholic Church sits at 771 Roscoe Road in Newnan, Georgia, just under ten minutes from Interstate 75 and about thirty minutes southwest of Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta International Airport. From its first Mass said in a private home in 1938 to its current identity as a parish of more than 1,200 families, St. George has grown into one of the larger Catholic congregations in the southern suburbs of Atlanta. Its motto, "Jesus Invites, St. George Welcomes," shows up on the lips of Hospitality ministers at the door and on the pages of nearly every ministry description on the parish's site.
The parish is part of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and offers its life and sacraments in two languages. Sunday Mass is celebrated in English at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. and in Spanish at 12:30 p.m., with a Vigil Mass on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and weekday Mass in English at 9:00 a.m. on Monday through Thursday. Confessions are heard on Saturdays from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the main sanctuary, and by appointment with the pastor.
Mass Schedule and What to Expect
The weekly rhythm at St. George centers on the Eucharist. Sunday Mass in English is offered at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., with the Spanish Mass following at 12:30 p.m. A Saturday Vigil Mass is celebrated at 4:00 p.m. From Monday through Thursday, the community gathers for a 9:00 a.m. weekday Mass in English.
On Holy Days of Obligation, the schedule expands to 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. in English, with a 7:00 p.m. Mass in Spanish. All Masses are celebrated in the main church, and music is provided by an adult choir that sings at every Mass and presents a Christmas Eve concert at 11:30 p.m. The choir is also available for weddings and funerals.
Mass is livestreamed on the parish's YouTube channel, with streaming beginning five minutes before each liturgy. Online giving is available through the parish's Online Giving portal, and a parish email list keeps registered families up to date.
From a Living Room to 1,200 Families
The Catholic presence in Newnan began almost by accident. Around 1910, the Mansour, Carrasco, and Norman families settled in the area, but for decades they drove to Atlanta, Griffin, and LaGrange for Mass. In 1938, Taft Mansour was delegated to petition the bishop for a priest, and that same year the first Mass was celebrated in the Mansour home on Clark Street, with forty-eight people in attendance. Visiting priests continued to make the trip from other parishes for the next ten years.
By 1947 the congregation had outgrown the house, and Mass moved to the dining rooms of the Virginia and Swinton House hotel. In 1950 the community was formally assigned to the Redemptorist Fathers as a mission of Sacred Heart Church in Griffin, and the first resident priest was named. A dedicated church building followed on Jackson Street in 1952, giving the parish its first permanent home and the name that would stick: St. George.
Growth made another move necessary. In 1968 the contract for the Roscoe Road site was signed and the priest moved into a residence on the property. The new church on Roscoe Road was dedicated in 1969, and in 2019 the parish marked fifty years of worship at the current address. St. George became an independent parish church in 1974, still under Redemptorist leadership, until 1992, when administration of the parish was entrusted to priests of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and Monsignor Leo Herbert was named pastor.
The decades since have brought stained-glass windows (1987), a new parish hall later named Henderson Hall (1997 and 1998), the first Spanish Mass (1999), the first parochial vicar assigned for Spanish Masses (2001), and a new rectory completed in 2020. Pastors after Monsignor Herbert have included Father Austin Fogarty (2002), Father Henry Atem (2012), Father Randall Mattox (2020), and the current pastor, Father Stephen Lyness, who was named to the parish in 2022.
The Pastor and Pastoral Team
Father Stephen Lyness, the parish's current pastor, was born on May 23, 1968, in Lurgan, Ireland, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 26, 1998, by Archbishop John Donoghue at St. Peter's Catholic Church in his hometown. Before coming to St. George, he served as parochial vicar at Saint Benedict in Johns Creek, the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta, Saint Thomas Aquinas in Alpharetta, Saint Lawrence in Lawrenceville, Saint Catherine of Siena in Kennesaw, and previously at St. George itself (1999 to 2002). He later served as chaplain to the Georgia State University Catholic Students Association and as parochial vicar at Mary Our Queen, before eight years as pastor of St. Joseph in Washington and Queen of Angels in Thomson.
Father Stephen is assisted by three deacons: Deacon Steve Beers, now senior and retired; Deacon Ed Buckley, who also serves as RCIA coordinator; and Deacon Danilo Salas. The parish staff is led by Nancy Medrano, Coordinator of Faith Formation, and Teresa Nguyen, Business and Office Manager, with Libi Roberts as Bilingual Pastoral Secretary, Kelly Riordan as Administrative Assistant, and Tim Camp overseeing facilities maintenance. The parish office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the main phone number is 770-251-5353.
The Seven Sacraments
St. George follows the seven sacraments recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, and each is treated as a centerpiece of parish life rather than a back-office formality.
Baptism. Infant Baptism is prepared for through a class offered to parents and godparents by appointment. Children over the age of seven go through the Rite of Christian Initiation for Children for a year before being baptized, and adults enter the parish's RCIA process coordinated by Deacon Ed Buckley.
First Communion. First Reconciliation and First Eucharist are received together at the end of a two-year Faith Formation process, with regular attendance in first and second grade required.
Confirmation. Teens begin a two-year Confirmation journey as early as ninth grade, attend Wednesday evening sessions in the fall using the Life Teen program, take part in retreats in both years, and are expected to attend Mass weekly and receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist regularly. Adults prepare through RCIA.
Reconciliation. The sacrament is offered on Saturdays from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., by appointment with Father Stephen, and at Community Penance Services during Advent and Lent.
Anointing of the Sick. Arranged by calling the parish office; the sacrament is not limited to parishioners.
Holy Orders. Men discerning the priesthood or permanent diaconate are invited to make an appointment with the pastor to begin vocational discernment.
Matrimony. The Archdiocese requires six months of preparation, including the Prepare/Enrich program, meetings with a priest or deacon, and participation in an Archdiocesan marriage-preparation program. The parish assists couples navigating interfaith marriages and the declaration-of-nullity process when needed.
A Day of Adoration and a Year of Prayer
One of the more distinctive features of St. George is its Friday schedule. Eucharistic Adoration runs from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Henderson Hall Chapel, except when the Parish Office is closed. The Blessed Sacrament is exposed in a monstrance, and regular adorers commit to one hour a week so that Jesus is never left alone in the chapel. New adorers sign up on the sheet outside the chapel.
Outside of the Friday hours, the chapel is open Monday through Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for prayer before the tabernacle. The parish frames adoration with words from Saint John Paul II: "Your faith will help you realize that it is Jesus Himself who is present in the Blessed Sacrament, waiting for you and calling you to spend one hour with Him each week."
The parish also has a strong tradition of devotion to Divine Mercy and the Holy Face of Jesus. The Divine Mercy Ministry meets on Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. in the parish hall and on Fridays from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the chapel, hosts the annual Divine Mercy Sunday Service, and helps lead the Patriotic Rosary Rally each summer.
Liturgical Ministries at the Altar
Mass depends on more than the priest, and the parish's Liturgical Ministries are open to anyone whose talents fit the work. Sacristans carefully arrange liturgical books, vestments, vessels, linens, oils, processional crosses, and candles for each Mass. Ushers are the first to greet visitors, assist with seating, select a family to present the gifts, coordinate the collection, and distribute bulletins. Lectors proclaim the readings and psalms. Altar Servers, open to boys and girls who have reached fourth grade and to adults of any age, assist at the altar and are scheduled roughly once or twice a month. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion distribute the Eucharist and take it to the homebound, serving a three-year commission once trained. The Music Ministry invites singers and instrumentalists into the adult choir, which sings at every Mass and presents the Christmas Eve concert.
Service Beyond the Sanctuary
The parish's Non-Liturgical Ministries extend the corporal and spiritual works of mercy into the wider Coweta County community. The Council of Catholic Women meets one Tuesday a month, oversees the parish kitchen, hosts the receptions for First Communion, Confirmation, the Easter Vigil, and the Parish Picnic, and runs a regular Bible study and book groups.
The Knights of Columbus council, open to all confirmed Catholic men of the parish, runs the Friday Lenten meals before Stations of the Cross, hosts a monthly Breakfast with the Knights on the third Sunday of the school year, and stages a Breakfast with Santa the weekend before Christmas. In the wider community the Knights partner with the Boys & Girls Club and Special Olympics; in 2012 the St. George council was named the most outstanding Special Olympics service organization in Georgia.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society visits and assists neighbors in need, with a helpline (678-892-6163) for those seeking help with food, clothing, rent, utilities, transportation, medical or dental care, or funeral expenses. Members are drawn from St. George and St. Mary Magdalene parishes, and clothing and household donations can be dropped at the Clothes Less Traveled thrift shop in Peachtree City.
The Respect Life Ministry promotes the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, raises funds for the Catholic-based Pregnancy Aid Clinic, distributes pro-life education materials, and gathers on the first Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. to pray the pro-life rosary during adoration.
Other groups include the Mercy Meals Ministry, which delivers a meal after funerals held at the parish; the Hospitality Ministry, which sets out coffee, juice, and donuts after Sunday morning Masses; the Homebound Ministry, which brings the Blessed Sacrament and companionship to parishioners who are home, in the hospital, or in nursing homes; the St. Martha's Guild, which keeps altar linens and priestly vestments clean and ready; the Religious Store Ministry, which stocks the parish gift shop after weekend Masses and supplies coloring materials for children during Mass; and the Elijah Cup program, in which a family, couple, or individual takes a consecrated chalice home for a week of prayer for vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and religious life.
A Spanish-Language Community Within the Parish
St. George's Spanish-speaking community has been part of the parish since the first Spanish Mass was celebrated in 1999 and the first parochial vicar was assigned for Spanish Masses in 2001. Today the 12:30 p.m. Sunday Mass in Spanish is one of the most visible expressions of that life.
Around the Spanish Mass, the parish runs a parallel set of ministries: Adoración (one-hour companionship with the Blessed Sacrament each Friday), Caballeros de Colón (the Knights of Columbus, with meetings in English), Escuela de la Cruz for married, widowed, or engaged men, Grupo de Oración El Sembrador for evangelization through the Holy Spirit, Hospitalidad with the same coffee-and-donuts welcome as the English Hospitality Ministry, Ministerio de Santa Marta for cleaning the church and laundering altar-server vestments, Ministerio de la Tienda Religiosa for staffing the religious store, Rosario Dominical for leading the rosary before Sunday Mass, San Vicente de Paúl for visiting and assisting people in need, and Virgen Peregrina for promoting devotion to the Blessed Virgin of Guadalupe among families.
Libi Roberts serves as the parish's Bilingual Pastoral Secretary, and many of the parish's resources, from faith formation pages to ministry descriptions, are presented in both English and Spanish.
Faith Formation, Youth, and Family Life
Faith Formation at St. George is a year-round effort. Nancy Medrano, the Coordinator of Faith Formation, oversees preparation for the sacraments of Christian initiation, Vacation Bible School, and ongoing religious education. Vacation Bible School is a fixture of the early summer, drawing families to a week of catechesis, crafts, music, and a closing Mass. Photo galleries from recent years show VBS 2025 filling the parish halls for four days in June.
Youth ministry runs through the Life Teen program, with teen Confirmation candidates meeting on Wednesday evenings during the school year and attending retreats in each of their two preparation years. The parish welcomes high school graduates with an annual Recognition Mass and supports a Youth Mission Trip in collaboration with other Catholic parishes.
Children and families are folded into the life of the parish through the Blessing of the Animals each fall, a Trunk or Treat around Halloween, an Easter Egg Hunt, a Children's Christmas Party, the Parish Picnic each October, and a Valentine's Dinner & Dance for adults. The Knights of Columbus host Breakfast with Santa each December, and the parish keeps a tradition of ecumenical Lenten services hosted in turn by St. George and by neighboring churches such as Newnan Presbyterian and Central Baptist Church.
The Patron Saint Behind the Name
The parish takes its name from St. George, a Christian soldier born in Cappadocia in the third century who served in the Roman army and rose to the rank of tribune. According to the parish's account, when the emperor Diocletian issued an edict in 302 requiring Christian soldiers to be arrested, George refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods, distributed his wealth to the poor, and was eventually executed by decapitation at Nicomedia on April 23, 303. The parish celebrates his feast day each year with the St. George Day celebration, which dates back to 1994.
Members of the parish pray the St. George Prayer: "Almighty God, who gave to your servant George boldness to confess the name of our savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Endowment, Stewardship, and Safe Environment
Long-term stewardship at St. George is anchored by the St. George Endowment Fund, managed with the Catholic Foundation of North Georgia. Donations to the fund are protected and invested, with the parish receiving an annual distribution from earnings to support its ministries. Planned gifts through wills and estates are welcomed through the Foundation's planned giving program.
The parish operates within the Archdiocese of Atlanta's safe-environment policies, with volunteers who work with minors required to complete Virtus training. A Teaching Boundaries and Safety Guide is available to families, and the parish publishes an annual report along with the Archdiocesan annual report each year.
At Home in Newnan
For a first-time visitor, St. George is easy to find and easy to enter. The church is on Roscoe Road, ten minutes from I-75 and thirty minutes from the airport. Weekend Masses are at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., and 12:30 p.m. (Spanish) on Sunday. Weekday Mass is at 9:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday, with Eucharistic Adoration in the Henderson Hall Chapel from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Friday. Confessions are heard Saturday afternoons. Mass is livestreamed on YouTube for those unable to attend in person, and giving is available online through the parish's Online Giving portal.
The parish's online formation resource, Formed.org, is available to registered parishioners free of charge, with videos, movies, books, and audio lectures on Catholic faith and practice. The parish email list and a regularly updated calendar keep families connected to weekly Mass intentions, ministry meetings, and parish events throughout the year. From its beginnings as a private Mass in a Newnan living room to its present life as a bilingual parish of more than 1,200 families, St. George continues to follow the same invitation its name implies.