The Rev. E. Weston Mathews serves as the Rector of St. Francis and began his ministry in September of 2024.

A native Virginian, Weston grew up in the Northern Shenandoah Valley. Weston earned an A.B. in History in 2004 and an M.A.Ed. in 2005 from the College of William and Mary.

Following his years at William and Mary, Weston was a high school history teacher at Nelson County High School in Central Virginia and a Board member of the Charlottesville-based Region Ten Community Service Board.

In 2014 he earned an M.Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary. While in seminary, he served as a seminarian at St. Mark’s, Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Weston was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia in 2014. Following graduation from seminary, he served as an Associate Rector at St. Stephen’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. At St. Stephen’s, he focused on leading worship, providing pastoral care, serving the Richmond Men’s City Jail ministry, and teaching Christian formation classes in a parish of 5,000 members. During his years in Richmond, Weston was a Board member of Side by Side, Virginia’s largest LGBTQ+ youth development center.

From 2017 until his arrival at St. Francis, Weston served as Rector of Grace Church in The Plains, Virginia. During Weston’s years with Grace, the parish enjoyed increases in worship attendance, annual giving, and completed a successful capital campaign resulting in a major renovation of the physical plant. Weston encouraged deeper engagement with the Piedmont community through opening the Peas and Grace Food Pantry and co-organizing performances by local theater groups. Weston’s focus on Christian formation included co-founding Grace Montessori School for the spiritual development of children ages 18 months to 6 years old and empowering disciples in small groups. A lover of sacred music and the arts, Weston expanded the Grace Concert Series and its Angel Donor Program and co-developed the Paragon Philharmonia in Residence at Grace. During his tenure at Grace, Weston also served as Dean of the Northen Piedmont Region Episcopal churches.

In 2020, the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia awarded Weston and the Rev. Robert Dilday with the “Meet Me in Galilee Award”; for their leadership of the Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice, a non-profit environmental justice organization in operation from 2018-2022. As part of a calling to safeguard the integrity of God’s creation, the organization raised and distributed more than $1 million dollars in mutual aid funds to activists and front-line communities resisting fossil fuel infrastructure and environmental racism in rural Virginia communities. 

From 2023-2026, Weston served on the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, leading the Committee as President in 2026.

Weston and his wife, Loriana, enjoy playing tennis, travelling together, and spending time at the beach in Lewes, Delaware.