Rev. Weston Mathews

Reverend Matthew at St. Francis Episcopal in Great Falls, VA, A smiling man dressed in white clerical robes with red and gold embroidered accents, standing indoors with a colorful religious banner in the background.

The Rev. E. Weston Mathews began serving as Priest-in-Charge of St. Francis 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 and, following graduation from seminary, 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, stronger annual giving and new endowments, a successful capital campaign, major renovation of the physical plant, and deeper engagement with the Piedmont community through the Peas and Grace Food Pantry and performances by local theater groups. Weston's focus on Christian formation included co-founding and developing 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 the arts, Weston expanded the Grace Concert Series and its Angel Donor Program and co-developed the Paragon Philharmonia in Residence at Grace. 

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 to activists and front-line communities resisting fossil fuel infrastructure and environmental racism in rural Virginia communities.

Weston currently serves as a member of the Standing Committee of Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. Weston and his wife, Loriana, are the proud parents of cat children Noel and Camille and enjoy playing tennis, travelling together, and spending time at the beach in Lewes, Delaware.