In 1995 St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church was founded as a mission of St. Catherine of Siena, located in Kennesaw, Georgia. The mission began with the first Mass being celebrated in August with over three hundred families in attentance. The mission met in the Cherokee County Recreation Center located on Main Stree in Woodstock.
In January of 1996, St. Michael's purchased a house on Jay Lane. The house was turned into a rectory for the priest and the basement was converted into offices for Administration and Religious Education. There was a seperate garage on the property which the Knights of Columbus converted into a Day Chapel. In March of 1996, thirty acres were purchased on Arnold Mill Road to provid ample space for the future. Because of the growth in the number of families at St. Michael's, the Archbishop changed the status from a mission to a parish in June of 1996 and appointed the church's first Pastor.
As the parish and staff continued to grow, the house on Jay Lane became too cramped. In January of 1997 five more acres and a house adjoining the property on Arnold Mill was purchased and the house on Jay Lane was sold. After completely renovating the house, with help from many parishioners, the pastor and office staff moved into their new home in April. The Knights of Columbus again renovated the garage and turned it into a Day Chapel. The storage shed on the property was also renovated and turned into a work space for Religious Education and meeting room. This shed would later become the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry.
During a building campaign, the parish raised over $2,100,000 to build St. Michael's first church. A loan of $4,200,000 from the Archdiocese was obtained and on February 28, 1998, Archbishop John F. Donoghue and Pastor Patrick Kingery dug the first shovels full of dirt at the ground breaking ceremony. Construction of the new church was completed in mid January 1999 and the first Mass was held on January 22, 1999 at the 5:30 pm Vigil Mass.
In June 2004 Fr. Larry Niese came as Pastor. In 2005 a new rectory was donated and constructed on the property for the priest's residence. In 2012 the mortgage was paid off on the church and property. As Cherokee County continued to grow, so did St. Michael's. With 7 masses on the weekend, the current church was filled to capacity. Another building campaign was begun and the new church was designed. Through the generosity of the parishioners, the groundbreaking for the new church was held in March, 2014, by Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory. On May 19th, the first bulldozers arrived and construction began.
On July 10th, 2015, the first mass was held in the new church. The first mass was a funeral for a parishioner who had been at St. Michaels since the first mass in 1995. That weekend, all masses were celebrated in the new church.
After completion of the church, renovation began on the old church and surrounding areas. After the jack hammering ceased and the dust settled, the old church was converted into a new Family Center and a new Commercial kitchen was built to open into the Family Center. The Chapel was renovated and new conference rooms and classrooms were converted on the second floor.
On August 29, 2015 Archbiship Gregory dedicated the new Church.
In May 2017 a new 150 space parking lot was completed. An overflow gravel lot was also added for overflow parking for special events and overflow masses.
St. Michael's Food Pantry continued to grow and the shed was no long useable. The Old Rectory had been converted into storage and the Food Pantry also moved into the building. Once again the Food Pantry outgrew their space and was moved to share the Parish Hall. During the summer of 2018 a new Food Pantry was constructed on the back of the property where the old shed had stood. The Knights of Columbus and Fr. Larry Niese, Pastor did the demolition! The Food Pantry was built entirely with donations from parishioners and serves all of Cherokee County. The pantry is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays from 10 am to noon each week and is staffed by many volunteers from the parish.
Also, during the summer of 2018, a pavilion was built, funded by a generous donation. The pavilion will seat approximately 200 people. Both the Food Pantry and the pavilion were dedicated by Bishop Bernard Shlesinger in November 2018.
What does the future hold for St. Michael's? More growth, both spiritually and with new families. With growth comes more building and renovation to serve God's people!!