Mission of St. John Baptist de la Salle, North Wilkesboro
Mission of St. John Baptist de la Salle, North Wilkesboro101 Hawthorne Road, Elkin
Mass: 9 a.m. Sunday
In the spring of 1955 construction of St. Stephen Church was started. The land on which the church was built was purchased from Chatham Manufacturing Company for $1. The first Mass at St. Stephen Church was held later that year, and the church was officially dedicated Jan. 30, 1956. Whether from curiosity or true interest, townspeople overwhelmed the church on the day of the dedication. The event attracted the mayor, town officials and community leaders as well as average citizens.
Mission of Our Lady of Consolation Church, Charlotte
Mission of Our Lady of Consolation Church, Charlotte 341 Dallas-Spencer Mountain Road, Gastonia
https://ourladyofconsolation.org/st-helen-catholic-church-1
Mass: 9:30 a.m. Sunday
The site for St. Helen Church – and, in part, its inspiration – came from Robert Gardin, a former Baptist who in his younger days converted to Catholicism after having a dream in which St. Peter called on him to continue his faith by way of the Catholic Church. Gardin’s conversion is said to have brought hundreds of friends, neighbors and family members – including eight siblings – into the church. The Gardin family still worships at St. Helen, a small red brick church designed by the famed church architect Benedictine Father Michael McInerney. It is one of the diocese’s historically African-American faith communities, and today welcomes people of all backgrounds.
