Our Legacy

A STORY OF HOPE

This isn’t the first time Sacred Heart of Vidalia has ventured into new territory. Our history is full of hope-filled moments when our parishioners made an impact.

Grateful for those who have blazed trails before us, we embrace the chance to create our own legacy.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

With only a handful of Catholics, the first Mass was offered in the Toombs County Courtroom in Lyons on Easter Sunday, March 29, 1959.

In September 1959, property was acquired. It was located on State-Farm Road 147, South of Lyons. Groundbreaking services were held in March of 1961. Bishop Thomas McDonough dedicated the chapel in October 1961.

In 1967, Toombs County was separated from the city of Claxton. That same year a pastor, Fr. Del Holmes, was assigned to the newly formed "Sacred Heart" Catholic community. Additionally, a rectory was purchased for the newly assigned pastor.

By August 1971, the Sacred Heart community had approximately 30 Catholic families, with the majority living in Vidalia.

LAYING OUR ROOTS

In 1972, the Parish Council voted to move the Sacred Heart community to a more central location between Lyons and Vidalia.

While plans were being made, Saturday evening Masses were held in the Episcopal Church in Vidalia. Sunday Masses were still held in the Lyons Chapel.

By 1974, the Sacred Heart community had doubled to approximately 60 families.

In 1979, the small but growing Catholic community purchased land between Vidalia and Lyons (today's current location) and completed its construction of the church, rectory, and parish hall.

GROWING IN FAITH, SERVICE, & MEMBERS

In the year of 1979, the Sacred Heart community saw the arrival of four sisters: Sister Florence, Sister Jean Evelyn, Sister Francis Agnos, and Sister Carol Jean.

That same year, our parish rejoiced in the ordination of two deacons: Deacon Clayton Burke and Deacon Jack Martin. But it also mourned the loss of its pastor, Father Clement Borchers. Fr. Clement Borchers died saving a religious brother who was drowning in the ocean.

Despite the church's loss, her members continued to work hard. The four newly moved in sisters created the Early Learning Center in the Parish Hall. The Early Learning Center was a daycare/preschool where children were cared for, fed, and taught crucial developmental skills as they prepared to enter kindergarten and elementary school.
The Early Learning Center took in children from low-income and diverse backgrounds. The Center was the first daycare in the city of Vidalia to take in children of color.

ENTERING THE NEW MILLENNIUM

By 1993, Sacred Heart had approximately 125 registered families. In fact, due to the growth of the Spanish-speaking community, a third Mass was added to the weekend.

Our CCD program was also strengthening in numbers. With only the Sanctuary and Parish Hall, no space was available to adequately hold CCD classes. For some time, class was taught in the garage of the rectory.

To address the lack of space, a new CCD building was finally built in 1997. After the construction of our CCD building, we received more students than we had ever before!

In July 2003, our sacristy, confessional, and cry room were all relocated and repainted.
In 2004, our community became involved in the Toombs Area Ministerial Association and began to build bridges with our protestant brothers and sisters.

THE ROAD TO TODAY'S CHURCH

In 2012, newly appointed Father Ben Dallas began a long haul of renovations and relocations. The rectory, parish offices, sanctuary interior, and kitchen all received much needed renovations and facelifts. The sacristy was moved to a larger room and was made more secure.

New ministries and devotions were born in this time. The First Friday Healing Mass was instituted as was the weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration. Youth Group restarted in 2014 and averaged 20-30 teenagers a week. A prayer group and rosary ministry were also formed. A new women's group, Blessed is She, was also formed.

During this time, Sacred Heart saw a greater amount of baptisms, conversions, and marriages among the Hispanic community. The Hispanic community alone now made up about 40-50% of our 350 families.

With the greater increase of families, our parish began experiencing issues to accommodate its new needs

Our CCD classes were originally meant to handle 10-15 students but averaged 20-30 in one class. Rooms experienced distractions from other classrooms and even a hotter environment.

Weddings, funerals, and quinceaneras experienced distractions and a lack of organization due to the lack of space. Major liturgical celebrations were no exception. When the Sanctuary was packed, parishioners were redirected to the Parish Hall, which is not adequately equipped to provide a prayerful environment to those who worship with us.

Our septic tanks began to overflow as they could not handle the increased use by more parishioners. The HVAC unit also began malfunctioning due to our increased numbers and required costly reparations.

With these challenges in mind, we needed to develop a long-term solution to handle our increased number of parishioners.

It was then that the idea of a new church was born. Today, these problems persist and we are looking to move forward while Building the Body of Christ.