St. Timothy Parish's Growing Family

By Mary Frances McCarthy
HERALD Staff Writer
(From the issue of 2/13/03)

St. Timothy Parish in Chantilly is the second largest parish in the diocese, and it is still growing. One thing that makes it unique, according to Father Gerald Weymes, pastor, is the number of large families that belong to the church. Many families have four to six children; some even have up to 11.

Father Weymes describes the demographics of the parish as, "very polyglot." He said that the parish has Irish, English, Polish, Spanish, Filipinos, and so on, naming about 10 nationalities. However, he said that the parish is somewhat young in age; the parish consists primarily of young families.

According to St. Timothy School Principal Marilyn Valatka, another thing that makes the parish special is "the beauty of the campus." To her response, Father Weymes added, "It’s like a small university." The formation of the parish has been very much like the formation of a university. The church, rectory, parish center and school are arranged so they enclose a courtyard containing shrubs and benches, and the parish keeps growing little by little through new buildings and additions.

Due to the rapid growth of Northern Virginia in the late 1960s, St. Timothy Parish was established to serve Catholics in western Fairfax County. By 1971, the parish population had reached about 750 families. Masses were celebrated at a small chapel on Old Centreville Road and Greenbriar Elementary School.

St. Timothy Church was completed in 1975 and dedicated on Jan. 25. Parish facilities at that time consisted of the church and a rectory building, which included a multi-purpose room.

Ground was broken by Msgr. R. Roy Cosby, then pastor of St. Timothy Parish, for Father Nudd Hall in September 1980. The hall commemorated the founding pastor of St. Timothy Parish, Father Robert E. Nudd, who passed away two years earlier. The hall contained seven classrooms that could seat a total of 200 students, offices and a gymnasium. The hall was dedicated in August 1981 by Bishop Thomas J. Welsh, former bishop of Arlington, just in time for the opening of St. Timothy School.

When Father Cornelius O’Brien was assigned to the parish in the 1980s, the parish continued to grow and the new school wing was dedicated in 1985. It was named for the late Jesuit Father Francis Diamond, former associate pastor of the parish. The new wing more than doubled the size of the school and included a library, computer room, teachers’ lounge, additional classrooms and a multi-purpose room.

The construction project of the 1990s was the renovation of the church. In 1997, the church building was expanded and the seating capacity doubled. The church now seats about 1,400.

For the last 20 years the parish has been run by Irish-born priests, Father O’Brien was pastor of the parish for 16 years, beginning in 1983, and he was followed in 1999 by Father Weymes.

Father Weymes was born in Dublin and attended St. John Seminary in Waterford, Ireland, graduating in 1974. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 2, 1974, by Bishop Michael Russell in Ireland. He then came to the United States and served his first assignment at St. Agnes Parish in Arlington as parochial vicar. He served as pastor of St. William of York Parish in Stafford for 11 years before being assigned to St. Timothy Parish.

Assisting Father Weymes in the spiritual formation of the children are Valatka and Maria Ho, director of religious education. There are currently about 1,400 students enrolled in the CCD program at St. Timothy Parish.

St. Timothy School currently has 632 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is one of few private schools in the area with school buses providing transportation for the students.

The school opened in 1981 with Valatka serving as principal. She was the first lay principal to open a school in the diocese.

St. Timothy School was named a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education in 2001. Of its graduates, 97 percent go to Catholic high schools. One of the requirements to be named a Blue Ribbon School is that a school recognizes the needs of every student, and St. Timothy School does this through programs for learning disabled students. The learning center has two teachers specializing in learning disabilities, a resource teacher and a reading specialist. The school also has a full-time school counselor.

The parents are also very involved. The Parent-Teacher Organization holds at least one fundraiser a year. This spring they are holding a Disco Night for the parents on March 1 to raise money for programs for the children. During Catholic Schools Week the PTO sponsored an ice skating party to begin the week, and a fun fair to wrap up the celebrations.

Father Weymes is continuing the tradition of expansion at St. Timothy Parish with plans to build a two-story structure with four new classrooms and a new media center and library. Once the addition is made, St. Timothy School will begin a preschool program, for 140 three- and four-year-old children. Father Weymes hopes that ground will be broken by March.

At a Glance

703/378-7461

Rectory:

13807 Poplar Tree Rd.

Pastor: Father Gerald Weymes

Parochial Vicars: Father Carroll L. Oubre, Father J. Edwin Thayer Tewes

Deacons: David E. Conroy Sr., William J. Pyrek

Mass Schedule:

Weekdays: 6:15, 9 a.m.; noon

Saturday: 9 a.m.; 5:30 p.m. (vigil)

Sunday: 7:30, 9, 10:45 a.m.; 12:30, 5:30 p.m.

Confessions: Wednesday: 11:30-11:50 a.m. and 8 p.m.; Saturday: 3:30-5 p.m.

School:

13809 Poplar Tree Rd.

703/3786932

Principal: Marilyn S. Valatka

Grades: K-8, Learning Disabled Program

Students: 635

DRE: Maria Ho

Parishioners: 15,347

Boundaries: Beginning at Loudoun County line — East on Rt. 50 (Lee Jackson Hwy) to Legato Road — South on Legato Road to Rt. 29 (Lee Hwy) — Southwest on Lee Hwy to Prince William County Line — Northwest on Bull Run to Loudoun County line — Northeast on Loudoun County line to Rt. 50.

Read Other Diocesan Parish Profiles

 Copyright ©2003 Arlington Catholic Herald.  All rights reserved.