All are welcome in this place!

Sometime in either November or early December, the Church of Francis de Sales will celebrate the solemn dedication of its new sanctuary. For more than five years our community has been preparing for this momentous event. Bishop Emeritus Walter F. Sullivan had challenged our parish family to prepare for the future by taking bold, innovative steps, and we have.

What began as a mission in the early 1980s has become a dynamic and active Roman Catholic community in the rural county of Mathews, Virginia. From such humble beginings God has sent bountiful blessings. Francis de Sales, in particular, as with the Catholic Church in general, is always open for change, transformation and renewal. Of course, there are voices of resistance to innovation and renewal. It's imperative to remind each other that in every age the people of God remained steadfast to the age-old liberating values of the Gospel while the institutional church adopted itself to meet the cultural, political and social circumstances of the time.

The building of our new sanctuary is a large public expression of our faith in Christ and in all of our parishioners. Over the years we have built our faith as we built this new house of prayer. In this new sanctuary, as in the old, all of God's people are welcome! All are welcome to experience the Real presence of the Blessed Lord in Eucharist and in each other. Yes, all are welcome. All are welcome in this Place!