Prayer for the Community of St. James in Hopewell

Many of you may have already heard the sad news that St. James Catholic Church in Hopewell suffered a devastating fire late Wednesday night. Although the damage is extensive, fortunately no one was injured. The fire was determined to be accidental in nature.

For those of you not from Central Virginia, Hopewell is a small city adjacent to Prince George and Charles City Counties on the Appomattox River. St. James is part of the Catholic Cluster with St. John, Dinwiddie, and Sacred Heart, Prince George.

Blackstone, where I grew up, is not too far down the road, and when I was a child, my older half-brother lived in Hopewell, so we visited from time to time. Despite that, I have never spent a whole lot of time in Hopewell, and I wanted to make sure I had my facts straight before I sent this email. The City’s website it recounts that Hopewell’s nickname is “Wonder City” because of its resilience in bouncing back from several disasters over the years, including a fire that destroyed the city in 1915.

I know that the St. James community will show that same resilience, but it has a difficult road ahead. Please join me as they begin the process of healing and rebuilding their church.

God Bless,

Margaret

Margaret Keightley
Executive Director
Catholic Community Foundation of the Diocese of Richmond