About St. Barbara catholic church · Chapmanville, West Virginia
St. Barbara Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church located at 33 Sawmill Road in Chapmanville, West Virginia, in the southern West Virginia coalfields of Logan County. Situated along Crawley Creek, it serves the Catholic faithful of this rural Appalachian community and is one of three churches entrusted to the pastoral care of the pastor of St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in nearby Madison. The mission offers Sunday and weekday Mass, with confession available before the Wednesday liturgy, continuing a long Catholic presence in a hollow originally settled by immigrant mining families.
- Patron
- St. Barbara
- Rector
- Rev. Neil R. Buchlein
- Diocese
- Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
Why belong here
St. Barbara Mission offers the Catholic faithful of Logan County's Crawley Creek hollow a consistent Sunday and Wednesday Eucharistic presence in a region where parishes are few and far between. Worshippers can expect a quiet, traditional small-mission setting with the Sacrament of Reconciliation offered before Wednesday Mass or by appointment, and the steady pastoral care of the priests of nearby St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish.
Mass times at St. Barbara catholic church
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Wednesday 5:30 p.m. – 5:55 p.m. (before Mass), or by appointment
About St. Barbara Mission
St. Barbara Mission is a small Catholic mission church in the Crawley Creek hollow of Chapmanville, Logan County, West Virginia. Tucked against the Appalachian hillsides along Sawmill Road, it continues the Catholic presence in a community whose roots go back to the immigrant mining families who settled the southern West Virginia coalfields. As a mission, it is not an independent parish but is pastorally served by the priests of St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in Madison.
History & Heritage
The mission takes its name from St. Barbara, the early Christian martyr long invoked as patron of miners, artillerymen and all who work with fire and explosives — a devotion carried into the West Virginia coalfields by European Catholic immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The mission was originally dependent on St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Logan. On November 26, 2017, by diocesan decree, St. Barbara was incorporated into the territory of St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in Madison and became a Mission of that parish, where it remains today.
- Originally a mission dependent on St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Logan.
- Reassigned by decree on November 26, 2017 to St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish, Madison.
- Named for St. Barbara, patron saint of miners.
Clergy & Pastoral Care
St. Barbara Mission is pastorally served by the priests of St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in Madison. The current pastor of that parish — and therefore the priest responsible for St. Barbara Mission — is Rev. Neil R. Buchlein.
- Pastor: Rev. Neil R. Buchlein
- Pastoral contact via St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish, Madison.
Parish Identity
Because St. Barbara is a mission rather than a freestanding parish, most administrative, sacramental and faith-formation activities are coordinated through St. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in Madison. The mission itself provides a quiet, traditional worship setting for Catholics living along Crawley Creek and in the surrounding hollows.
Visiting & Directions
The mission is located at 33 Sawmill Road in Chapmanville. From US Route 119, travelers take the Chapmanville exit, proceed straight onto Crawley Creek Road, and then turn right onto Sawmill Road. Parking is on site at the small mission church.
- Address: 33 Sawmill Rd., Chapmanville, WV 25508.
- From US-119, take the Chapmanville exit → Crawley Creek → right onto Sawmill Rd.
- Chapel phone: (304) 855-7962.
Contact
For day-to-day matters, the most reliable point of contact is the parish office of St. Mary Queen of Heaven in Madison, which provides pastoral and administrative care for St. Barbara Mission. The mission also has a published chapel phone number.
- Chapel line: (304) 855-7962
- Parish office (St. Mary Queen of Heaven, Madison): (304) 369-4538
- Pastor's email: [email protected]
- Diocese directory listing: dwc.org/directory-listing/st-barbara-mission-chapmanville/2076/