Welcome! The Lord be with you! I am Father Daniel Toof, St. Anna’s Pastor. I would like to introduce myself. As a cradle Catholic I was born and raised in Columbus, a small town in Nebraska along the confluence of the Platte and Loup Rivers. In 1973, I graduated from “Scotus” a small Franciscan High School. I have a degree in Accounting from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1983, I moved to Atlanta and began discerning a call to priesthood after making a Cursillo weekend in the fall of 1986. Two years later I entered St. Meinrad seminary in Indiana. Since my ordination as a Diocesan priest in 1994 I have served four parishes: St. Thomas Aquinas-Alpharetta, St. Mary’s-Toccoa, St. Gabriel’s-Fayetteville and, since June of 2001, St. Anna’s in Monroe.

Although I am a relative newcomer here, as pastor I have been asked to share my vision for St. Anna’s. We are in a period of transition due to rapid growth in the city of Monroe and Walton County. This parish has a long, rich history and St. Anna’s is dearly loved. This “small” (among the largest in the City!) community of believers has an impression of themselves as a friendly, family-oriented parish that truly cares for one another. This parish community is also known locally for their involvement in and around Monroe. I share these impressions and would love to see us carry this beautiful tradition forward! I believe our parish vision should encompass consciously maintaining our “small”, friendly parish feeling while continuing to serve the local community.

In this way, the way of the Spirit of our Lord, we will together allow God to bless us here with a future worthy of our heritage! I do not have a specific timetable for growth, nor for a new building, yet “now” is the time to follow in the Lord’s way. It is time to prepare to receive all manner of future blessings!