The Vision for the Facility

The Vision for the Facility

Father Edward Branch (Lyke House Campus Minister), Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory and Father Ricardo Bailey in Rome, Italy. Photo by Michael Alexander, The Georgia Bulletin

Lyke House: The Catholic Center for the Atlanta University Center responds to three areas of concern which have been at the heart of the Black Catholic Congress: Christian community, heritage and consciousness, and evangelization – the sharing of one’s faith tradition through gospel motivated learning and service. Every aspect and element of this structure is carefully conceived to affect this vision. The design of the chapel is inspired by the churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia, which represent some of the earliest Christian structures and remind us of Africa’s early presence in Christian history. The Ethiopian cross, used for the center’s logo, evokes this same memory. The center’s biblical title, The Lion of Judah, which is taken from the fifth chapter of the Book of Revelations, is a primary image that is emphasized heavily at the center. It is both scriptural and African in that it plays off of the Ethiopian tradition of calling its royal heirs by the same title (Revelations 5: 5 – “…do not weep; the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed….”). By capitalizing on this Christic title, we associate all Christians with the royal priesthood of Jesus and its legacy.

Lyke House serves the faith development needs of African, African American, and Caribbean young adults who have come to the institutions of the Atlanta University Center to advance their learning towards responsible participation in the national and international life. Current opportunity for faith development is enhanced to effect growth in tandem and like quality with their academic achievement. This Christian faith development requires a community context.

The center facilitates the coming together of Catholic students for worship, learning, recreation, fellowship, dialogue, and reflection. It is also a staging area from which students launch programs in community service, a place that helps them become conversant with the world Catholic Church, and aware of the particular call of the African American Catholic Church to establish God’s reign.

Page last updated: January 31, 2009