Our Parish for the Week of November 10:
St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church & School in Roy, Oregon
For our Parish of the Week we are heading west to St. Francis of Assisi in Roy, Oregon! Learn a few facts about this amazing parish below, and hear from Pastoral Associate Brian Meeuwsen in this interview below.
- Francis of Assisi parish and school is a very devoted Catholic faith community from Dutch roots in rural Washington County.
- The school was founded in 1912 and the community focused on the school before building the current church building, which began in 1920 and was dedicated in 1921. These early efforts demonstrated the commitment to the Church’s Mission of Catholic Education and Formation.
- Fr. Michael Vuky is the Pastor of St. Francis, and Fr. Augustus Duruiheakor is the Parochial Vicar!
- Bishop Steiner was pastor at St. Francis in the late 1970s before he was named auxiliary bishop, and he had a second tour of duty in 2010-2011 before he retired. He knows and loves the parish well! He has been residing at St. Francis of Assisi since 2016, spending his retirement days playing golf at the local courses with parishioners from all three local parishes of Visitation, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Edward. Plus he hosts a weekly pinochle group!
- Many vocations have come from the parish including Fr. Jeff Meeuwsen, pastor of St. Joseph in Salem, Fr. Teresio Caldwell, OSB, Sr. Charlene Herinckx, SSMO, Fr. Kelly Vandehey, Fr. Scott Vandehey and many more from the parish.
- The parish just held their annual Country Holiday Bazaar with homemade baked goods and crafts on the 2nd weekend of November.
- The Parish Dinner is the 1st Saturday in May, which features an antique tractor exhibit that peaks a lot of interest around the area for bragging rights.
- The parish is in the final stages of a Capital campaign to build a 20,000 square feet Parish community center with parish hall/kitchen, gym/stage, and pre-school classroom to support their growing community.
About the School
- Principal Jannelle Mayo is in her sixth year serving as principal, a role that fills her with gratitude and joy. Her journey with SFA began 18 years ago when her oldest child started kindergarten, and all five children graduated from there. Jannelle shares that she witnesses firsthand the ways the school forms students into disciples of Christ!
- The school currently have 118 student in grades K-8, with 24 pre-schoolers. They have a unique pedagogue of blended classrooms, ever since the founding of the school, which is not the traditional single grade classroom but rather has students groups with the class above or below them.
- The school has many cherished traditions, such as celebration of their patron saint’s feast day on October 4th. This year, they gathered in the church with our 2024-2025 student body to honor St. Francis of Assisi, and also had a blessing of the animals! The largest animal to be blessed was a Clydesdale horse!
- The second graders always bring All Saints Day to life with heartfelt research and presentations of their chosen saints during Mass.
- The spirit of generosity in the community shines through, such as in long-time parishioner Jack Meeuwsen, who lovingly plants pumpkins each year and creates a private pumpkin patch for the students to enjoy.
Learn more about the parish on their website!