Dear Franciscans,

Today, September 3rd, with great joy and hope, I begin serving as your priest. In mutual ministry we begin a new chapter in the life of St. Francis and with friends in our wider community.

Through meetings with Transition Minister Shirley Smith-Graham and Father David Lucey, vestry leaders and officers, St. Francis and Crèche School staff, and others, I’ve spent the last month learning about the gifts and graces of our spiritual community. I sense a great deal of love and a sweet, sweet spirit in this place after reading several parish histories and watching worship and special offerings on YouTube, including a video production of the 1984 sanctuary consecration by Bishop Peter Lee.

I have also had a chance to connect with some local church and community leaders at the Great Falls 4th of July celebration and to experience community on a couple Saturdays for coffee at Katie’s Cars and Coffee. My clergy friends in the North Fairfax Region and I are looking forward to working more closely together and lifting up the witness of St. Francis as part of the larger body of Christ. 

As a result of all of these early impressions, I’m even more excited now than I was when the Search Committee and Vestry affirmed my call to be with you. 

Sunday is a big day for all of us. Please invite your friends and our mission partners to church and to our celebration following worship. There will be many opportunities for us to get to know each other this fall and beyond. I have a lot to learn from each one of you, and I pray we will learn and grow together following Jesus Christ. Thank you for every way you make St. Francis a special community of faith. 

Weston 

The Rev. E. Weston Mathews 
Priest-in-Charge 
St. Francis Episcopal Church in Great Falls