The Rev. E. Weston Mathews serves as the 21st rector of Grace in The Plains, and began his ministry with us in 2017. Weston was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 2014 by the Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston.
Weston has helped strengthen our commitment to congregational development and mission in the Northern Piedmont Region by:
-Planting Grace Montessori School in 2018 with weekly chapel worship and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd for 30 new, diverse, and young families in the Northern Piedmont
-forming members of Grace through weekly small groups engaging holy scripture
-mentoring seminarians from Virginia Theological Seminary and supporting the ordination of a vocational deacon for first time in Grace’s history
-working with parish leaders to open the Peas and Grace Food Pantry
-instituting a “Third Sunday” Choral Evensong Series with Grace Music Director Dr. Jason Farris
-integrating two resident regional theatre companies and artists in residence into parish and community life
-collaborating with parish leadership to welcome Paragon Philharmonia at Grace as a non-profit chamber orchestra-in-residence
-Leading a successful capital campaign and working with parish leaders to eliminate all major deferred maintenance through over $3 million in physical plant renovations, and expanding the bounds of the Grace campus in cooperation with neighboring residents and the Windy Hill Foundation
-expanding the Grace Concert Series and Angel Donor Program
Prior to his time at Grace, Weston served for three years as an Associate Rector of St. Stephen’s Church in Richmond where he focused on leading worship and pastoral care in a large system of over 5,000 members. He also led young adult ministries, ministry with the men of 5F block at the Richmond City Jail, served Virginia’s youth LGBTQ+ community as a Board member of Side by Side, and enjoyed leading worship and providing regular pastoral care to residents at Westminster Canterbury Richmond.
With the late Rev. Robert Dilday of St. Stephen’s, Richmond, Weston founded the Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice which he led from 2018-2022. Together they raised and redistributed over $1 million in reparations for families in zones of economic and ecological sacrifice and to activists resisting large fossil fuel infrastructure projects in Virginia. This organization supported waves of nonviolent civil disobedience in Richmond, Charlottesville, and in small Southwestern Virginia communities in the face of environmental racism and ecological devastation. In 2020, Robert posthumously and Weston were awarded the “Meet Me in Galilee Award” by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia for their faith-based commitment to communities in Virginia suffering from environmental injustice. Two of those projects targeting historically Black communities- the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and two compressor stations in Charles City County- were stopped.
Weston is a former public school teacher and lives in Falls Church with his wife, Loriana Mathews, and their two cats, Camille and Noel. Weston enjoys playing tennis, traveling, and gardening.
Diocesan Leadership: Dean of the Northern Piedmont Region from 2020-2022
Leadership in The Episcopal Church: past member of the Task Force on Creation Care and Environmental Racism of The Episcopal Church
Education:
BA in History, The College of William and Mary, 2004 MAEd, The College of William and Mary, 2005
MDiv, Virginia Theological Seminary, 2014