About Sacred Heart Mission · Powhatan, West Virginia
Sacred Heart Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church serving the historic coal-mining community of Powhatan in McDowell County, West Virginia. Established in 1914 by Rev. Gregory Sturm, OSB, a Benedictine priest, the parish was originally founded for European immigrant families (Polish, Italian, Hungarian, and others) who came to work the Pocahontas coalfield. Today Sacred Heart is a Mission Church of St. Peter Parish in Welch under the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston (the merger took effect June 5, 2018) and offers weekly Sunday Mass for roughly three dozen local Catholic families. The church sits on Route 52 (Coal Heritage Road) overlooking the once-thriving Elkhorn Creek valley and continues as a quiet witness to more than a century of Catholic life in southern West Virginia.
- Established
- 1914
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Rev. Rey D. Landicho (Administrator of St. Peter Parish, Welch; Sacred Heart Mission is administered from St. Peter)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Why belong here
Sacred Heart Mission offers a small, close-knit Catholic community in a beautiful but sparsely populated stretch of the West Virginia coalfields. Sunday Mass is celebrated each week at 11:30 a.m. in the historic church on Coal Heritage Road, and the parish is administered by the pastor and staff of nearby St. Peter Parish in Welch — meaning Sacramental confession is available by appointment and the faithful of the Elkhorn valley are cared for together with the wider Catholic family of McDowell and Wyoming counties. For visitors and locals alike, Sacred Heart is a living piece of more than a century of immigrant Catholic heritage in southern West Virginia.
Mass times at Sacred Heart Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- By appointment (through St. Peter Parish, Welch — (304) 436-2014)
Parish Identity and Patron
Sacred Heart Mission is named for the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one of the most widely venerated devotions in the Catholic Church, which honors the physical heart of Christ as a symbol of his divine and human love for humanity. The feast is celebrated on the Friday after Corpus Christi and falls in June, which is observed as the Month of the Sacred Heart.
History
Sacred Heart Parish in Powhatan was formally established in 1914 with Rev. Gregory Sturm, OSB, as its first pastor. The parish grew up around the immigrant Catholic families — Polish, Italian, Hungarian and others — who came to work the mines of the Powhatan Coal & Coke Company on Elkhorn Creek. The church was renovated and re-dedicated in 1978. Effective June 5, 2018 the territory of Sacred Heart was merged into St. Peter Parish in Welch, and Sacred Heart became a Mission Church of that parish.
- 1914 — Sacred Heart Parish established; Rev. Gregory Sturm, OSB, first pastor
- 1978 — Sacred Heart Church in Powhatan renovated and re-dedicated
- June 5, 2018 — Parish merged into St. Peter Parish, Welch; Sacred Heart becomes a Mission Church
Staff and Administration
Sacred Heart Mission is administered through St. Peter Parish in Welch. The Administrator for both parishes is Rev. Rey D. Landicho. The shared Secretary and Bookkeeper is Jan Williams, who can be reached at the parish office phone and email listed on the parish page.
- Administrator: Rev. Rey D. Landicho — [email protected]
- Secretary/Bookkeeper: Jan Williams — [email protected]
- Parish office phone (St. Peter Parish, Welch): (304) 436-2014
Mass and Sacraments
Sacred Heart Mission offers weekly Sunday Mass at 11:30 a.m., and a weekday Mass on Friday at 11:00 a.m. Sacramental confession is available by appointment through the St. Peter Parish office in Welch.
- Sunday Mass: 11:30 a.m.
- Friday Mass: 11:00 a.m.
- Reconciliation: by appointment (call (304) 436-2014)
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Sacred Heart Mission belongs to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, the Roman Catholic diocese that covers the entire State of West Virginia. The diocese was originally established as the Diocese of Wheeling on July 19, 1850, by Blessed Pope Pius IX; the name was changed to the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in 1974 under Pope Paul VI, with Sacred Heart Church in Charleston designated Co-Cathedral. Sacred Heart Powhatan is one of many parishes and missions the diocese has served in the southern West Virginia coalfields.
- Diocese: Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
- Vicariate: Beckley Vicariate
- Parent parish (since 2018): St. Peter Parish, Welch, WV
- Diocese established: 1850 as Diocese of Wheeling; renamed Wheeling-Charleston in 1974
Location and Visiting
Sacred Heart Mission sits on US Route 52 — the Coal Heritage Road / Coal Heritage Trail, a National Scenic Byway that traces the historic Pocahontas coalfield — in the small unincorporated community of Powhatan, McDowell County, West Virginia. The mailing address is 35508 Coal Heritage Road, Powhatan, WV 24868.
- Address: Route 52, 35508 Coal Heritage Rd., Powhatan, WV 24868
- County: McDowell County, West Virginia
- Located on the Coal Heritage National Scenic Byway
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Gregory Sturm, OSB1914 –
First pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Powhatan; a Benedictine priest, per the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston's official history.