That long journey started on a Lenten Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. It will take many years for the smell of new wood and fresh varnish to be replaced by the gentle hint of incense, lingering whiff of candle wax and sweet scent of pew polish. The new striking white classic Gothic-style Anglican edifice, which stands in stark contrast against the brilliant blue Georgia sky, is built to last though this century and on into the next and beyond. Perhaps, one day it, too, will become a much beloved three hundred-year-old church rich in memories, history and prayers of the All Saints who have gone before them in this hollowed place.

On the Second Sunday in Advent 2014 All Saints Anglican--Peachtree City was brand spanking new as Archbishop Beach rapped on the red doors humbly seeking entrance as their diocesan bishop. He also happens to be the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). When the arched doors were opened to him, he was met by nearly 300 people anxious to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness in their own sacred worship space. Up until then, they had been sharing a combined worship space with the Evergreen Presbyterian Church congregation through the gracious generosity of Peachtree City United Methodist Church's Windgate Annex. Each Sunday as the Evergreen service disassembled, All Saints' worship space was being prepared.

Church-in-a-box comes out: prayer books and hymnals appear, folding chairs are rearranged, the altar is "dressed" and prepared, a proper liturgically colored chasuble is brought out and draped over the "altar rail" as a host of white-gloved altar guild women attend to all the minute details needed to transform the annex into passable Anglican worship space. Following the service, the process is reversed. The 1928 prayer books and 1940 hymnals are put away, the chairs are stacked, the gleaming silver Eucharist vessels are removed, and the annex is stripped of any lingering Anglican liturgical identity.

Now the weekly push to create an Anglican worship environment in a borrowed hall is over. An archbishop has come to consecrate All Saints' own sanctified and sacred space to the honor and glory of God.

The new ACNA Archbishop, as the founding Bishop of ACNA's Anglican Diocese of the South, has been to the All Saints building site before. He has quietly witnessed the church being built -- stick-by-stick, board-by-board, tile by tile. Now he has returned to 149 Ebenezer Road, on the border between Fayetteville and Peachtree City, as an archbishop to bless the building and consecrate it to the greater glory of God as the Gospel message is boldly proclaimed in Fayette County, Georgia. Originally, a stand of pine stood reaching to the sky where the 12,000 square foot church complex now sits with its cross-topped steeple pointing towards heaven.

Seven-plus years ago, on the first Sunday in Lent 2007, 95 "watchers and holy ones" gathered to strike out in faithful obedience to the Gospel and establish a Biblically faithful Anglican congregation, fully rooted in Apostolic tradition under the early guidance of the lay leaders and the vestry of "The Anglican Church of Fayette County."

Disaffiliating from St. Andrew's-in-the-Pines Episcopal Church, the small band of traditional Episcopalians forged out into the deep, leaving their building behind them and facing an unknown future. They were supported only by their uncompromising faith, and hope in the Gospel. They dreamed of plans, focused vision, heartfelt prayer and the knowledge that they would not be mired in years of costly litigation. At the time, there was no priest to lead them ... he would come later to firmly take hold of the helm; together they would follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour while giving witness to the Gospel on the outer edge of metro Atlanta.

Those early Fayette County All Saints labored long and hard to establish a strong Anglican presence southwest of Atlanta away from the hustle and bustle of the center of Georgia's busy capitol city and to lay the early necessary groundwork that would eventually lead to building of their own Anglican church and its eventual joyful dedication. The day of triumph was almost eight years in the making as Alleluias were sung in joyful thanksgiving to the Lord.

"Our mission is unchanged: to fulfill the Great Commission given to us by our Lord Jesus to make disciples of all nations and to obey the Great Commandment to love one another as He loves us," Fr. Fry reminded his faithful. "This building is merely an instrument to help us to fulfill the vocation we have always had from the Lord."

Fr. Fry hasn't always been with All Saints. Originally, the founding of the then Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA) congregation and its early days of ministry and reach out were prayerfully guided by a dedicated lay leadership and strong vestry. They struggled through their early beginnings and birthing process to establish an authentic Anglican presence on "the South Side of Atlanta--the southern crescent" of the city whose infamous burning was memorialized in Gone With the Wind.

All Saints went on to be a founding member of the Anglican Diocese of the South in the Anglican Church in North America. All Saints Anglican--Peachtree City is not to be confused with All Saints Anglican--Atlanta, an African-American ACNA congregation located inside the I-285 Perimeter with its spiritual roots in Nigeria. All Saints--Atlanta is sharing worship space with Emmanuel Lutheran Church, a multicultural Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) congregation.

In the suburbs, All Saints--Peachtree City is deeply involved on a diocesan level. So much so that the parishioners proudly presented its newly elected founding bishop--Foley Beach--with his crozier as a joyful remembrance of the energetic suburban congregation.

"We were fond of the idea that a piece of All Saints would travel with him throughout the Southeast as he fulfilled his role as our Bishop," Fr. Fry explained. "Then he went and had to get himself made Archbishop!"

"Apparently, an archbishop and primate--that is head of a national church--carries around something called a 'primatial cross' rather than a crozier when he's conducting his primatial business," the All Saints' priest continued. "Well, not to be left out of the action, we just decided to buck up and make him one of those, too. That's right--we made it!

"Your Grace," Fr. Fry continued as he addressed Archbishop Beach, "I guess we can get over the disappointment that you won't be carrying the crozier we gave you throughout the Southeast anymore in the knowledge that you will carry this new gift throughout the world."

All Saints is very much involved with ACNA, as well. Fr. Fry was the Master of Ceremonies in October for Archbishop Beach's ACNA enthronement ceremony. Recently, he was elected the chairman of his diocesan standing committee.

The Anglican priest, who was classically educated at Oxford in England, and has served in the conservative dioceses of Fort Worth and San Joaquin, has been at All Saints for seven years. He celebrates using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer Service of Holy Communion as he faces the altar. He holds Morning Prayer in the church most weekday mornings and Evensong on Wednesdays. He has seen his congregation grow from a membership of fewer than 100 to an ASA of 140. Sunday morning's first Service of Holy Communion at the new All Saints Church drew a congregation of 247, while later that afternoon the dedication ceremony drew a crowd of 287, more than double his usual Sunday attendance figure. The Oxford-trained priest hopes that now that All Saints has its new home and permanency, the church's membership will continue to grow in numbers and deepen in spirituality.

All Saints is a vibrant and growing ACNA parish. Its rector is assisted in his priestly duties by Fr. Ray Greiner, a retired priest who is a military veteran and a close friend of CANA Bishop Martyn Minns; and Fr. Jon Jenkins, a Nashotah graduate who hails from the ACNA Diocese of Fort Worth. The three priests are kept busy with a full complement of ministries designed for all age groups.

One of the unique and well-hidden features of in the building of All Saints is that various verses of Scripture, prayers, and the Apostles' Creed are literally written into the cement of the newly-laid foundation. This was done as a testimony to the faith of those who built the sanctuary and as a permanent witness to the centrality of Scripture, prayer, and the Creed in the life and spiritually of the parish. 300 years from now, long after these All Saints are in the Church Triumphant and a part of the Great Cloud of Witnesses, those Scripture verses, written prayers, and Creedal snippets will still be visible to future All Saints' generations attesting to the important role living faith played in the sacred edifice's very erection.

The Bible quotes, prayers, and Creedal passages are scattered throughout the sanctuary--hidden under the aisle runner and beneath the pulpit; they can be found from the threshold of the door to the various nooks and crannies of the church; they are also concealed under the altar and in the chancel.

Fr. Fry said he was delighted each time he found a new verse as he familiarized himself with every inch of the church as it was being built. It was his parishioners spontaneously leaving a living legacy for future All Saints members to find and remember the Faith once delivered unto the Saints that they will have inherited.

The All Saints complex is more than the 300-seat sanctuary. It also encompasses, a bell tower, a smaller separate chapel, fellowship hall, choir room, classrooms, pantry, office space, and covered cloister. Most of the work has been completed, about 95 percent of it. Nearly 200 individuals and families banded together to raise the more than $2 million needed to build a once-in-a-lifetime work--a new church. Nearly 50 people actually got involved with the building process: turning over the deep red Georgia clay ... swinging hammers ... cutting planks ... laying carpet ... painting shutters ... Other outdoor work still needs to be completed when spring arrives and the warm weather coaxes the trees to bud and the flowers to bloom. More landscaping is on the drawing boards as is a children's playground and memorial garden.

Much has been done and there is more to do, but Fr. Fry sums it all up when he says: "We're home!"

"Alleluia."

Mary Ann Mueller is a journalist living in Texas. She is a regular contributor to VirtueOnline