Parish History
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Sacred Heart began with the dreams of a group of immigrants from Austria and Czechoslovakia. The Sholtis family and others started to have Mass celebrated in the homes of Independent Hill. Joseph Cheslock donated land in the fall of 1916. In exchange for labor, additional land was obtained from Richard H. Barnes at five dollars per acre. A small church was built on Old Shop Road and Spriggs Road in Minnieville. Dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Father William Jan, a Polish priest, became their spiritual leader. One Saturday a month, he traveled from the small village of Woodford, south of Fredericksburg by train and horseback. The congregation at that time was made up of both Roman and Byzantine Catholics. Anna Bensack Cebula was the first to be baptized in the church. On February 14, 1918, her sister, Carrie Marinoff, was the first to be married there.
The Byzantine Rite parishioners wanted to return to their own liturgy and, in 1929, St. Mary's Church was built on Hoadly Road. As automobile travel on the unpaved Spriggs Road became a problem, Mary Sholtis donated an acre of land for a new Sacred Heart Church. She hoped that vacationers enroute to Lake Jackson, and other tourists, would stop by as they passed along. Using lumber and some window frames from the original building, Andy and Lawrence Sholtis and another helper began the duplication of the old structure. In place of the choir loft, it was decided that a steeple would be added. Joe Posey, a Canova carpenter, finished the church at 6404 Hoadly Road in 1937.
From 1929 until 1959, Sacred Heart was a mission of All Saints Church in Manassas. Prior to 1929, All Saints had been a mission of St. John's in Warrenton.
In 1959, Our Lady of Angels Church was founded in Woodbridge. Sacred Heart was closed in the hope that this new parish would serve its needs. It remained closed until the foundation of Holy Family in Dale City in 1970.
In 1982, Sacred Heart Mission formed its own Mission Advisory Board.
In 1984, Bishop John R. Keating raised Sacred Heart to the status of a parish with a resident pastor, Father Frank J. Ready.
In 1986, plans were made to build a new church facility to handle the needs of the growing parish and a Building Fund Drive was begun.
In 1987, with the celebration of Mass by Bishop Keating, the new parish honored the fifty year old church building and those who had done so much to bring Sacred Heart to its Hoadly site.
On November 22, 1992, ground was broken for the new church building a parish facility.
Dedication of Sacred Heart Parish's new church and parish center took place on January 17, 1994.
Information is from the 2006 Parish Directory.