Church of the Transfiguration Church History (2024)

By Kathleen Morra-Sloan

In the early years of our nation, Botetourt County, Virginia, along with the rest of our country,
was part of the Diocese of Baltimore. The Diocese of Richmond was formed in 1820, but Catholics were
scattered sparsely through the area. Although responsibility for Botetourt was given to St. Patrick’s in
Lexington, VA when it was founded in 1873, and then to St. Andrew’s in Roanoke, VA when it was
established in 1890, there was no permanent Catholic presence in the county until the end of the 20 th
Century.
Changes began when the Reverend Scott Duarte, associate pastor of St. Andrew’s, celebrated
the first Mass at the home of Rosalie and Richard Sloan at Grandview on Blacksburg Road in Troutville,
VA on August 5, 1981 with a small group of Botetourt County Catholics. A photograph of the day
indicates a little over thirty people attended. Later the same month, that small gathering grew to more
than 100 persons when the next Mass was held at the Rader Funeral Home on Route 11 in Troutville.
Weekly Masses were held at the Rader location through October, 1981, before being discontinued. But
that fledgling group laid the spiritual foundation for what is now the Church of the Transfiguration, the
first, and only, Roman Catholic Community in Botetourt County.
The hope of a Catholic church in Botetourt was revived in early 1988 when Maria Lennon, a new
county resident, asked Walter Sullivan, then Bishop of Richmond, why there was no Catholic Church in
the county. He encouraged her to contact those who had gathered in 1981 in the hope that there was
still interest in establishing a Catholic community. Interest was still strong and fifteen families attended
a meeting at the Rader Funeral Home Chapel in Troutville on February 25, 1988. Regular monthly
meetings followed and interest in the community grew. A steering committee was formed and a search
was made to find a larger meeting facility.
In May, 1988, St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Daleville agreed to allow the Botetourt
Catholics to use its facilities for worship, religious education, and fellowship gatherings. In September,
religious education classes began with 45 children enrolled. On October 1, 1988, Bishop Walter Sullivan
celebrated Mass and declared the site a “Mass Station” of St. Andrew’s. Reverend William O’Brien, the
pastor at St. Andrew’s, and Reverend John Abe, associate pastor at St. Andrew’s and the facilitator for
the Mass Station, shared the responsibilities of celebrating weekly Mass and meeting the other
sacramental needs of the community.
With continued growth, Bishop Sullivan elevated the Mass Station to a Mission Church in May of
1989. Then, on August 5, 1989, Bishop Sullivan established a new parish: The Church of the
Transfiguration with Sister M. Madeline Abdelnour, S.C.N. as its pastoral coordinator. This also marked
the move to celebrating Mass at a larger site: the Fincastle United Methodist Church (Fincastle UMC) on
Church Street in Fincastle, VA. Worship, religious education, choir practice and fellowship meetings
continued to be held weekly at the Fincastle UMC; pot luck suppers and occasional religious services
were also held at the Fincastle Volunteer Fire Station. Priests from St. Andrew’s continued to celebrate
weekly Mass and administer the sacraments. Sister Eveline Murray, a native of County Leitrim, Ireland,
became Transfiguration’s second pastoral coordinator in January of 1992 after Sister Madeline died of
cancer in August, 1991. The community continued to celebrate Mass on Saturday evenings at the
Fincastle UMC for the next several years. Fathers Carl Naro, Joseph Metzger, Don LeMay and Joseph
Facura were all weekly Mass celebrants while plans for a permanent home for the congregation were
underway.
In 1990 and 1991, great efforts were underway to convince the Diocese of Richmond, that the
Church of the Transfiguration should have a church of its own. Sister Eveline traveled to Richmond with
parishioners Fran Lincoln, Ed Schulz, Dick Sloan, and Ed Schulz to meet with the Diocesan Building
Committee. At that time, there were approximately 100 families registered in the parish. This
delegation brought with it facts about the congregation’s monthly income and lists of the registered
households.
“They gave us the green light to purchase property in Fincastle,” Ed Schulz recalled. Following
that, a Pledge Drive was organized and parishioners Bob Wills and Stan Hockman visited all the families
of the parish to secure pledges to the Building Fund.
In September, 1992, 4.7 acres of land was purchased along US 220 just south of Fincastle.
Parishioners and realtors, Pete and Freda Wood, assisted in the land purchase. The Catholic Church of
the Transfiguration worship center was dedicated on October 2, 1994. Fathers Lawrence Mullaney and
Father Timothy Huffman served as priests for the parish.
The rose-tinted masonry church sits atop a hill just outside Fincastle. Many of the new
building’s furnishings were gifts or purchases from other congregations. The solid oak pews formerly
resided in a Baptist Church in Franklin County; the altar, tabernacle and organ adorned the chapel at
Marymount in Richmond where Sr. Eveline had earlier taught. Some of the first altar furnishings were
donated by Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bernardsville, New Jersey. Others were built by former
parishioner George Tehan.
In 1999, a 14 room education wing was built. This addition provides Sunday school rooms,
offices, and meeting spaces for the Knights of Columbus, youth groups, and civic clubs. Rev. Joseph
Lehman and Father Andre Antao presided at Saturday evening Mass while Father Robert Warren, a
retired priest, became the parish’s Sunday celebrant. Also in 1999, the parish was the site of the
diaconate ordination of parishioner George Heise. Upon Sister Eveline’s retirement from diocesan work
in August 2003, to become a missionary in Africa, Rev. Mr. Heise was assigned not only as deacon, but
also as administrator of the parish. At that time, Transfiguration was clustered with St. John’s parish in
New Castle and Rev. Mr. Mark Allison was assigned as a second deacon for the clustered parishes.
In May, 2004, Reverend Ken Shuping became the first resident pastor. In 2006, a picnic shelter
and children’s playground were also added to the church grounds. In January, 2007, Rev. Mr. Heise
relocated to Arizona for health reasons. Father Shuping led the parish until he was reassigned to St.
Jude parish in Radford, VA. in May, 2007. During the next year, Rev. Rene Castillo, served as pastor of
both the Church of the Transfiguration and St. John the Evangelist in New Castle and continued his
duties as pastor of St. Gerard’s in Roanoke. In early 2008, Rev. Arlon Vergara arrived from the
Philippines and was assigned as parochial vicar at Transfiguration and St. John’s to help Father Rene. In
July, 2008, Father Arlon was named parish administrator for both Church of the Transfiguration and St.
John’s. Deacon Mark Allison was reassigned to St. Andrew’s in Roanoke later that year.
In July, 2009, our second resident pastor, Rev. Stephen McNally arrived. Father Steve continued
to serve as the resident pastor for Church of the Transfiguration as well as for St. John the Evangelist
Catholic Church in New Castle. Father Steve celebrated his 25 th Anniversary as a priest in May, 2011
while pastor of Transfiguration Church. He planned to retire in June, 2023 following his 70 th birthday in
April, 2023. Sadly, he passed away unexpectedly January 4, 2023. His wake was held at Transfiguration
and his funeral was held at Our Lady of Nazareth Catholic Church in Roanoke.
A new priest was expected to be assigned to the parish in June of 2023. In the interim, Rev.
Father David Stanfill, a former parishioner and the widowed father of six children, now retired from
active priesthood and back at his home in Fincastle, served as interim pastor to say Mass and minister to
the spiritual needs of the community. Monsignor Patrick Golden, pastor of Our Lady of Nazareth in
Roanoke, VA, was appointed interim parish administrator.
On July 1, 2023, the Church of the Transfiguration community welcomed Father Paul Lagco as its
third resident pastor. Father Paul was born in Sorsogon, Philippines and has been serving the diocese of
Richmond for four years. Father Paul has quickly engaged the community and, like his predecessors,
actively participates in the life of the parish. The Parish will celebrate its 35 th Anniversary as a parish in
August, 2024 and the 30 th Anniversary of the church building in October, 2024.