St. John’s new church set to be a worship haven

The new St. John the Apostle Catholic Church breaks tradition to make a statement to Leesburg residents, said the Rev. John Mosimann.

The new church, under construction at the intersection of North King Street and Oakcrest Manor Drive, points north-to-south, instead of the customary east-to-west facing of Catholic churches, Mosimann said. When completed this fall, the church’s front doors will face the Town of Leesburg.

“We wanted to open our doors to Leesburg,” Mosimann said.

The community has not always welcomed Catholics in return.

“A History of Saint John the Apostle Church, Leesburg, and the Catholic Faith in Loudoun County, Virginia,” a research paper made from historical records by St. John’s parishioners, highlights a negative stigma against the faithful. Colonial laws in the 17th century forbade Catholics to worship openly or seek public office. Even after those laws ended, Virginians were slow to thaw their opinions over the next 200 years.

Where Leesburg Protestants flourished, the Catholics worshiped in private. They relied on itinerant priests on horseback, riding in circuits to give rites to the faithful, according to the research paper. Missionaries did not make sufficient inroads to warrant a Catholic church until after the Civil War. In 1878, Norris & Sons, the firm responsible for much of Leesburg’s post-war construction, built what parishioners now call “the little church” on the corner of North King Street and Union Street for the sum of $2,000, according to the research paper.

That church, the first Catholic church in Northern Virginia, suited the parish’s needs for the next century, but the completion of the Washington Dulles International Airport in 1962 catalyzed Loudoun’s population boom, said Liz Whiting, president of the Loudoun Museum Board of Trustees. Sixty-thousand people lived in the county in 1970, she said. The 2010 U.S. Census listed Loudoun’s population at 310,000. And with more people came more Catholics.

Ken Tschida, the parish’s development director, remembers seeing Union Street lined with cars, bumper-to-bumper, on Sundays in the 2970s. The parish built their Worship Center in 1992, with a seating capacity of about 400, but now the parish has grown to about 2,500 families, Tschida said.

“The little church fits 180 people,” Mosimann said, pausing for effect, “packed like sardines.”

The new church, clad in red brick to match the character of Leesburg’s historic downtown district, will seat 1,100 people, Mosimann said. His parishioners wanted a traditional design, some of them fondly recalling large churches from their hometowns. The new church is certainly large: the vaulted ceiling above the nave reaches 50 feet high, while the bell tower, when finished, will be 120 feet high.

“Height and light are critical in church architecture. They lift the spirit toward God,” Mosimann said.

The height and light come at a price. Tschida estimates the church’s cost at $15.8 million. The parish spent 12 years raising funds, and will take on a loan between $5 million and $6 million to meet the difference, he said. But Tschida is confident the growing parish will meet the financial challenge, and grateful to them for making the church possible.

Leesburg Mayor Kristen Umstattd called the new church a beautiful and dramatic example of the expansion that many other area faiths have seen in recent years.

“ I hope that Leesburg is viewed as a haven for our faith-based community and I hope we will continue to be just that,” Umstattd said.

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St. John’s new church set to be a worship haven