About Immaculate Conception · Canton, North Carolina
Immaculate Conception is a Catholic mission church in Canton, North Carolina, one of Haywood County's mountain parishes and the only remaining mission of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in nearby Waynesville. It belongs to the Diocese of Charlotte and serves a small but devoted congregation of retirees, longtime locals, summer visitors drawn to the cool mountain air, and an active Hispanic community. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 8:00 AM in English, with a monthly Spanish Mass that draws about 100 Hispanic worshipers from the surrounding area.
- Established
- 1954
- Patron
- Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
- Rector
- Very Reverend Lucas C. Rossi
- Diocese
- Diocese of Charlotte
Why belong here
Immaculate Conception is a small, welcoming mountain mission with deep roots in Haywood County, drawing retirees, longtime residents, summer visitors escaping to the cool Blue Ridge air, and a vibrant Hispanic community of about 100 worshipers who gather for a monthly Spanish Mass. Parishioners enjoy a simple, traditional liturgy in a cozy redbrick church with stained-glass windows and a native pine ceiling, supported by steady Sunday confession, weekday Eucharistic Adoration on Wednesdays, and the close pastoral care of the priests of St. John the Evangelist in Waynesville. It is a fitting spiritual home for anyone seeking an intimate Catholic community in the western North Carolina mountains.
Mass times at Immaculate Conception
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 7:30 AM – 7:50 AM (before the 8:00 AM Mass)
Adoration times
- Wednesday 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
About Immaculate Conception Mission
Immaculate Conception is a Catholic mission church in Canton, North Carolina, in Haywood County in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. It is the only remaining mission of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in nearby Waynesville and is part of the Diocese of Charlotte. The church serves a small, multigenerational congregation of retirees, longtime locals, summer visitors, and a sizable Hispanic community.
- Type: Mission church (a dependent chapel of St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville)
- Diocese: Diocese of Charlotte
- Languages: English and Spanish
- Sunday Mass: 8:00 AM (English), with a monthly Spanish Mass
History and Heritage
The mission's roots reach back to the 1940s, when Catholics in Canton gathered for Mass in private homes served by Father Ambrose Rohrbacker of St. John the Evangelist in Waynesville. During WWII a school bus carried Canton Catholics through the mountains to Waynesville for Sunday Mass. After the war, the local Catholic population grew with returning veterans and workers at a new paper mill. In the early 1950s the little community worshipped in Canton's YMCA, with a suitcase that unfolded into an altar, before 54 founding members gathered in 1954 with Bishop Vincent S. Waters of Raleigh to dedicate their new redbrick church.
- 1940s – First Masses in private homes, celebrated by Father Ambrose Rohrbacker of St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville
- WWII era – A school bus transported Canton Catholics over the mountains to Waynesville for Mass
- Early 1950s – Mass celebrated in Canton's YMCA building with slatted wooden chairs and a suitcase altar
- 1951 – St. John the Evangelist takes responsibility for missions in Fontana, Murphy, Franklin, Canton, and Sylva
- 1954 – Church dedicated by Bishop Vincent S. Waters of Raleigh; 54 charter members
- 1979 – Silver jubilee celebrated with Bishop Michael J. Begley, founding bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte
- 2004 (June 6) – 50th anniversary Mass celebrated at the Colonial Theater with Bishop Peter J. Jugis
Architecture and Facilities
Immaculate Conception is housed in a simple redbrick church built in the early 1950s. Its interior features a native pine ceiling and ornate stained-glass windows that highlight the nave, giving the small mission a warm, traditional feel. The lower level of the building contains a church hall and kitchen that have supported decades of parish gatherings, anniversary Masses, and parish life.
- Exterior: simple redbrick structure
- Ceiling: native pine
- Windows: ornate stained glass in the nave
- Lower level: church hall and kitchen
Hispanic Ministry
Like many parishes in the Diocese of Charlotte, Immaculate Conception serves a growing Hispanic Catholic population. In 2002–2003, Father C. Morris Boyd — then pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Franklin — drove every Sunday for a year from Franklin to Canton to celebrate Hispanic Mass before leaving on a Spanish-immersion sabbatical in Mexico. Today, Father Shawn O'Neal, administrator of St. Joseph in Bryson City and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Cherokee, celebrates Mass in Spanish about once a month for roughly 100 Hispanic worshipers at the Canton church.
- Monthly Spanish Mass
- Approximately 100 Hispanic worshipers attend
- Celebrant: Father Shawn O'Neal
Clergy and Pastoral Leadership
As a mission of St. John the Evangelist in Waynesville, Immaculate Conception is shepherded by the priests assigned to that parish, with the support of nearby diocesan priests who serve the broader mountain region. The current diocesan directory lists Very Reverend Lucas C. Rossi as pastor.
- Current pastor: Very Reverend Lucas C. Rossi (per Diocese of Charlotte directory)
- Former pastor of both Immaculate Conception and St. John the Evangelist: Father W. Becket Soule
- Former pastor of both parishes (around 2004): Father Dennis McGowan, O.S.A.
- Monthly Spanish Mass celebrant: Father Shawn O'Neal (administrator of St. Joseph, Bryson City, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, Cherokee)
- Founding-era clergy: Father Ambrose Rohrbacker and Msgr. Lawrence Newman of St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville
Community and Parish Life
Immaculate Conception is a small but warmly rooted mountain parish. Membership has both declined and swelled over the decades, with retirees making up a significant share today, and Sunday Mass attendance climbing each summer as Catholic visitors come to enjoy Haywood County's cool mountain air and slow pace. The mission's longstanding link to St. John the Evangelist in Waynesville — its founding, its priests, and its current pastoral care — gives this small community a steady connection to the wider diocesan family.
- Summer influx of Catholic visitors to Haywood County
- Close pastoral relationship with St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville
- 50th anniversary celebration held at Canton's Colonial Theater (June 6, 2004)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Ambrose Rohrbacker1940s
Pastored St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville; celebrated early Masses for Canton Catholics in private homes.
- Father (later Msgr.) Lawrence Newmanearly 1950s
Pastored St. John the Evangelist; acquired the Canton property through Mrs. R. E. Davis and oversaw construction of the new church dedicated in 1954.
- Father W. Becket Soule
Pastor of Immaculate Conception and St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville; celebrated Sunday Mass in Canton.
- Father Dennis McGowan, O.S.A.around 2004
Augustinian priest; pastor of Immaculate Conception and St. John the Evangelist, Waynesville, at the time of the 50th anniversary.
- Very Reverend Lucas C. Rossicurrent
Listed as pastor on the Diocese of Charlotte directory.