What’s distinctive about your parish? What is your parish’s charism? A distinctive feature of our parish is its small, warm, friendly and spiritually welcoming feeling. Parishioners are very generous in providing for the needs of others. There is a food pantry stocked with donations from parishioners. The Outreach store is volunteer run with profits given to help the needy with food, rent or utilities. From the Dance-a-thon organized by high school youths to raise money for the local pregnancy center, to the Knights’ Hands program that provides construction and home maintenance for the elderly in the parish, our parish exemplifies the virtue of charity and the corporal works of mercy.
What’s the one unique thing visitors to your parish should do or see while there? The original church and now parish hall was built in 1888. It was gifted to the Richmond diocese in 1940 and became a mission of Sacred Heart Church in Winchester. St. John Bosco Parish was founded in 1959. The hall received the Shenandoah County Historical Society 2021 Award for Excellence in Preservation for what was the first Catholic church in Shenandoah County.
In 1973, our current church was dedicated and blessed, and we have begun a two-year preparation for its 50th anniversary. Upon entering our small parish church, visitors will immediately feel its warmth in the beauty of the stained-glass windows. St. John Bosco and the Divine Mercy windows were designed by parishioner Charles Barone. The window on the main wall is in memory of parishioner Ted Mulligin, and designed by Caroline Clifford Spinelli, the daughter of our recently deceased Deacon Steven Clifford. During Mass visitors will be uplifted by our small but talented choir and gifted choir director Melanie Griffy.
What is a new ministry that you’ve started? Or, alternatively, share some recent activities of longstanding ministries. There are many active groups in the parish — Legion of Mary, Knights of Columbus, Cursillo, Sunday morning Bible Study, Walking with Purpose (women’s Bible study), Upper Room Squad Youth Organization, Senior Games, Trail Life and more.
Our parish encourages parents to grow as disciples of Jesus by providing a monthly meeting that instructs them in the faith, provides a forum for discussion, and encourages them to live their Christian faith authentically and joyfully in their homes.
Is there a special way your parish encourages and supports faith formation? Faith Formation is directed by Carolyn Haydu. Religious Education classes for children combined with monthly family/parent gatherings provides hands-on and group involvement. RCIA classes are open to all: those interested in learning more about our faith and those who are interested in joining the Catholic Church.
How are you supporting the faith journey of particular cultures represented in your parish? Our parish has a large, active Hispanic community. Traditional cultural celebrations of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Las Mañanitas, Los Posadas and La Sagrada Familia are just some of the highlights of each year. The sidewalks are beautifully decorated for our annual Corpus Christi procession by many volunteers from our Hispanic and English communities.
Since the Pax Christi Sisters left our parish, Father Augustine Tran, parochial administrator, has worked tirelessly to provide a liaison between our diverse cultural communities. We have faithful volunteers who assist Father Tran in providing sacramental preparation in Spanish, and translators for those who have English as a second language. For our dear Father Tran, Spanish is a third language.
What would a visitor say about your parish, and how do new parishioners get involved? Visitors often remark that we have so many young children. There are a lot of options for new parishioners to become involved in parish life. Upon registration, new families are told about many of the highlights of our parish, and the new parishioner “Welcome packet” is being updated with new brochures and parish ministry contacts.
What’s something we should know about your clergy? Father Tran is our parochial administrator and has done a great job during a very difficult time. Unfortunately, we lost our former pastor, Father Michael Dobbins, in November 2020, and Deacon Steve Clifford in 2021 (within seven months of each other). Father Tran provides a strong faith-filled leadership to our parish family. In June, Father Robert Ruskamp joined our family to provide services to Our Lady of the Shenandoah Mission community.
Is there a standout or longtime staff member or volunteer you’d like to tell us about? Parishioner John E. Taylor is 92 years “young” and may just be our oldest active parishioner. He was an usher for most of his adult life, and his cheerful smile and knowledge of parish history makes for great storytelling.
Melanie Griffy is a longtime parishioner and staff member. She contributed in so many ways through her music ministry and working with and directing the youths in the Dobbins Theater Group, to put on plays that provide entertainment along with raising money for youth ministry.
Would you like to share anything else about your parish? We see many churches of other denominations around us that are struggling right now. Youth participation is an issue, but in our parish, we are blessed with young people who support our church. Our future looks bright due to our faith and strong work ethic.
We are blessed with Our Lady of Shenandoah Mission in Basye as part of our St. John Bosco parish family. Parishioners work jointly in providing for our annual Turkey Box and Giving Tree Projects.
Quick Facts
St. John Bosco Church
315 N. Main St.
Woodstock
540/459-4448
Website: sjbwoodstock.org
Social media: St. John Bosco [email protected]
Parochial Administrator: Fr. Augustine Tran
Parochial Vicar: Fr. Robert Ruskamp
Mass times: Vigil, Saturday 5 p.m., Sunday, 7:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., Spanish-language 12:30 p.m.
Confession times: Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m., Saturday after 8:30 a.m. Mass and 3:30 p.m., or by appointment
Year established: 1959
Total parishioners: 1,691
