The Homeless Parish Full of Hope

By Mary McCarthy
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 3/13/03)

POTOMAC FALLS — Housing developments and apartment buildings are being built at the blink of an eye along the Dulles Toll Road in Loudon County, but it seems that churches haven’t been able to keep pace with the growth.

In Potomac Falls, the Presbyterian church, Episcopalian church and Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church are all homeless. The three churches have struggled to find schools and other churches where they can hold their services.

Father William Saunders, pastor of Our Lady of Hope, is currently celebrating Sunday Masses at Potomac Falls High School, and weekly Masses at Community Lutheran Church. Religious education classes are also held at the high school.

"This area reminds me of Fairfax City when I was growing up," said Father Saunders.

"The Lutheran church and Pastor Paul Opsahl have been a tremendous support. They have done everything they can to help."

Our Lady of Hope Parish was formed in 2000 by Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde. The first Mass was celebrated Aug. 6 of that year at Potomac Falls High School.

Father Saunders, who was ordained in 1984, said he enjoys being a diocesan priest because "It’s home. It’s nice to see changes and know history and know priests."

Father Saunders has known Msgr. Francis Bradican since he was two years old when Msgr. Bradican was pastor of St. Bernadette Parish. Father Patrick Holroyd, pastor of St. Mark in Vienna, blessed Father Saunders’ first car. Father Saunders has also known Msgr. Frank Mahler, parochial vicar at St. James in Falls Church, since he was four years old.

Father Saunders moved to Springfield with his family when he was two years old. His parents were founding members of St. Bernadette Parish and he attended St. Bernadette School.

He served as president of the Notre Dame Institute for Catechetics from 1992 until the school merged with Christendom College, and then served as dean of the Graduate School until 2002.

Father Saunders and his parish staff are currently working at a rented rectory only a few blocks from where the church will be built. The planned church will have a traditional cruciform layout and seat 900.

The parish is also planning to build an elementary school. St. Theresa School in Ashburn is currently the only Catholic elementary school in Loudon County.

The church, rectory and school will be built on 12 acres of land at the corner of Cascades and Algonkian Parkways.

Architects currently are working on site plans to submit to the county. Once those are submitted, it could be up to eight months before construction would start. Because there is a slope to the land, site work alone will cost over $2 million.

Father Saunders said the parish is hoping to start construction by the end of this year. A campaign to raise funds began in 2001. Father Saunders has donated all of the proceeds from the sale of his book, Straight Answers, based on his weekly column in the HERALD, to the parish building fund.

"I’m very blessed to have such a faith-filled parish and such a dedicated staff," said Father Saunders. "It was so overwhelming to start from scratch, but so many volunteers and so many people came forward. The good Lord provided and things fell into place."

The parish is composed of mostly young families with several children. Because of this, Father Saunders said, "there is a lot of good enthusiasm.

"Members now are here because they want to be," he said. "They made a great leap of faith to start a new parish. There is a tremendous sense of self-sacrifice. It is wonderful to see how many people are involved in their parish."

Among the first to volunteer to help Father Saunders were Phil and Sally Girardi. They were the directors of religious education at Queen of Apostles in Alexandria with Father Saunders, and they came with him to Our Lady of Hope. The religious education program teaches over 700 children in grades K-12.

There are several adults who volunteer their time to help with youth ministry, providing activities for teens, and the parish also has a group providing social activities for younger children, called "Our Lady’s Children."

The Knights of Columbus has over 100 members and sponsored the parish barbeque last summer that was attended by about 800 people. The women’s group is very active in social activities and sponsored their first Christmas bazaar this winter. Liturgical ministers make it possible to offer Mass, even without a permanent church.

Although the parish is only two years old, it has already grown significantly. What began as 350 families has now become 1,115.

Father Saunders was instrumental in helping Notre Dame Graduate School grow, and now he is helping Our Lady of Hope Parish establish itself and build its home.

Rectory:

20648 Belwood Ct.

Pastor: Father William P. Saunders

Deacon: William P. Emley

Mass Schedule:

Weekdays: Tuesday-Friday: 9 a.m., at Community Lutheran Church, 21014 Whitfield Place, Potomac Falls

Saturday: 5 p.m. (vigil) at Community Lutheran Church

Sunday: 7:30, 9, 10:30 a.m. at Potomac Falls High School, 46400 Algonkian Parkway, Potomac Falls

Confessions: Saturday: 3:30-4:30 p.m. at Community Lutheran Church

DREs: Sally and Phil Girardi

703/430-5702

Parishioners: 3,205

Boundaries: Beginning at the Potomac River and going west to the Fairfax County line — south along the Fairfax County line to Route 7 — west on Route 7 to Route 28 — north on Route 28 to Broad Run — from Broad Run to the Potomac River.

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