In 1976 the congregation moved to its newly constructed facility on a five-acre wooded lot in Sandy Springs, Georgia.

[1] The second Sunday service was considered only an interim step to address overcrowding with the ultimate solution being the establishment of another congregation or fellowship.

To accommodate anticipated future growth, the Long Range Planning Committee investigated holding a third Sunday service.

However, to minimize impact on the new facility and reduce scheduling complications, it was recommended that a third service be held off site and be the basis for establishing a new Unitarian Universalist society.

On February 25, 1968, the first Northwest Service was held in rented space at Liberty Guinn School at 4829 Long Island Drive, Sandy Springs.

[4] The religious education program was held in a nearby day care center owned by a church member, Helen Correl.

William DeWolfe (January 29 – March 18, 1969) who served under a Minister-on-Loan program from the First Unitarian Church of San Antonio, Texas.

[11] DeWolfe noted in his departing words that the new congregation was still "psychologically a child of Cliff Valley" and encouraged Northwest to seek a more independent identity from UUCA.

Northwest continued to evolve into a separate religious entity holding regular board of trustees and committee meetings as well as fund raising.

[12] At a May 17, 1970 congregational meeting a motion carried by a two-thirds vote to start a $30,000 capital campaign to purchase property for a church building.

[14][15] Located on West Peachtree Street in Atlanta, the Abbey occupied the church building initially erected by the Unitarians in 1915.

The fiscal challenges arose from remaining debt on the construction of the original sanctuary main building, unfunded costs for the construction of the Chalice House, higher than anticipated non-payment of annual member pledges compounded by the loss of a long time renter, Gateway School.

[19] Through congregation-wide efforts including an extended capital fund drive, member loan program, Miracle Sunday and an increase in pledging, the congregation regained its financial footing.

Roy Reynolds (1992–2000) the congregation revised its mission to "Promoting religious freedom, spiritual growth and ethical action."

[20] Martha Spencer was the first lay leader to chair the RE Committee that oversaw youth religious education and nursery activities.

Two year later in November 1971, the RE Committee, now chaired by Joyce Buis, reported that 20 adults had volunteered as RE teachers and the RE program had a youth enrollment of 126 with an average Sunday RE attendance of 78.

[21] A brief recounting of these early days of the Northwest RE program was prepared in 2010 by the then DRE Elizabeth Hickman, the daughter of Joyce Buis.

"When we began, we had no building, of course, so we met in Liberty Guinn Elementary School, which is between here (Sandy Springs, Georgia) and downtown Atlanta.

Adult services took place in the cafeteria and RE around the corner in Helen Correll's kindergarten and the daycare center on Roswell Road.

[23] With RE registration at 140 children and room for only 100 students, a call was made by President Robert Styron at the December 11, 1983 Annual Meeting for more classroom space.

In March 1985 the Building Feasibility Committee responded to the RE space situation by proposing a new two-story structure on the Mount Vernon property with ten classrooms, kitchen, offices and storage facility.

[25] After considerable discussion at the March 24, 1985 Annual Meeting a motion was adopted to proceed with the plan submitted by the Building Feasibility Committee.

The final building was modified from the original concept and contained eight classrooms, a chapel, bathrooms, a wrap-around deck and storage facilities.

However, by 2000, after the departure of Pat Kahn and some short-lived DRE administrations, children registered in the RE program dropped to 62 with an average Sunday attendance of 33.

However, to protest the Georgia state legislature's refusal to legalize same-sex unions, Northwest minister Rev.

Southworth noted that, “A system that does not allow lifelong partners to be at their loved one’s bedside when the die, a system that deprives people of custody of their children, ownership of their homes and the same basic rights that I have as a heterosexual, is evil.”[29] In 2015, Northwest again took a position of protest over Georgia state legislature's proposed "Religious Freedom Restoration Act" due to its potential to legalize discrimination by business owners based on religious objections.

Started in 1982, the coffee house has been run by volunteers with performers playing only for the shared proceeds from a small admission fee and the collection of a passed basket.

In the early 1980s funds were provided to the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee to benefit that organizations work in prison reform, aging and overseas missions against hunger.

Dan Aldridge's effort to organize a Unitarian Universalist congregation to serve the needs of Atlanta's black community (Thurman Hamer Ellington UU Church).

For the past several years a donation of canned goods is requested to support a local food bank managed by the Community Assistance Center.