As Morgan County and the surrounding areas grew with the development of commerce and industry along the Tennessee River, so did the parish of Saint Ann. In 1900 the Catholic community bought property for a new church and school on the corner of Johnston Street and Fourth Avenue. By 1906 the construction of the new church was completed. The parish worked to reduce its debt and was able to add a rectory to the facilities in 1941 and to open the county’s first Catholic elementary school in 1955.
The facilities on Johnston and Fourth Avenue were renovated and expanded numerous times to meet the ever changing needs of the parish family. As the southern portion of the county began to grow in the late 1970’s, a group of parishioners petitioned Bishop Joseph Vath to establish a mission church in Hartselle. With the purchase of five acres on Pickens Street, Holy Family celebrated its first Mass on December 24, 1981. The mission grew rapidly and a parish hall with classrooms was added in 1993 with the help of the Catholic Extension Society.
In late 1995, the parishioners of Saint Ann and Holy Family again began to explore the possibilities of erecting additional facilities to better serve the growing number of Catholic families with children and the increasing number of new Hispanic workers and families moving into the valley. At the direction of Bishop David Foley, the parish councils of Saint Ann and Holy Family established a Long Range Planning Committee to address future facilities and capital expenditures.
In 1998 after much research; feedback from parishioners; input from the Diocesan Priests’ Council, Consultors, and Bishop; and many prayers, the Planning Committee recommended that future expansion take place at one new location to serve the needs of all Catholics in the county and surrounding areas. The two parish councils unanimously supported the recommendation and began the process of selecting property and merging the two councils into one Pastoral Council.
The Pastoral Council recommended to the Bishop the selection of names for the new parish with the parochial school continuing as Saint Ann and the future Parish Life Center being given the name Holy Family. The Bishop announced the new name for the parish on July 4, 1998, establishing the Church of the Annunciation of the Lord. The property for the new parish was purchased on Spring Avenue in 2000.
The Steering Committee selected Davis Architects of Birmingham to design a master plan for the new site with phase one consisting of an education center and a parish life center. The land for the new campus was blessed on April 13, 2002 with Woodward Construction of Hartselle, AL beginning construction shortly afterward. The construction cost for Phase One totaled $6.5 million with a total cost for the project of $8 million. In June, the City Council of Decatur established an Education Authority to support bond financing for the new school in the amount of $3.5 million.
The community of Holy Family celebrated its closing Mass on Pentecost Sunday, June 8, 2003 with the sale of the building to Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church. Saint Ann celebrated its closing Masses on July 25-26, 2003, the feast of Saint Ann and Joachim. The old church and rectory are currently being marketed for sale. Hospice purchased the Saint Ann School property in the Spring of 2004.
The first Masses in the new sanctuary of Annunciation of the Lord Parish were celebrated on the weekend of August 2-3 with Father Joe Culotta and all the faithful parishioners who had labored together for seven years in service, sacrifice, fellowship, teamwork and prayer. We acknowledge the contributions of those former parishioners, clergy and religious who helped to establish the foundation of our new faith community. Our history includes untold stories of children and adults initiated through baptism, confirmation and Eucharist; the forgiveness of God offered constantly; couples joined through the sacrament of matrimony; the sick anointed; the deceased given their final farewell liturgy; and outreach extended to those in need.
As we became one family of faith we carried with us many treasured items from our old homes and added a stained glass window to serve as our parish’s new icon. This historical window of the Annunciation of the Lord, crafted in 1924 in Austria, was purchased from the diocese of Kansas City, Missouri. We thank those who made it possible for us to have this beautiful window.
We are grateful for God’s goodness and the faithfulness of parishioners spanning over 130 years. We now share the responsibility of building a future full of hope upon the foundation which they laid so well. A plaque has been placed at the entrance of our new church home that reads:
In gratitude to the many who have labored so well and so faithfully hand-in-hand with God, we seek the intercession of our new patron, Mary, the first disciple, as we herald the name of Jesus to the new millennium. Remembering the words spoken to her by Gabriel, “nothing will be impossible” and even more so her response, “Let it be,” we, too, say “Yes” and give glory to God.
Dedication of Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church
September 14, 2003
Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross
