SWANNANOA — Clear blue skies and sunshine greeted parishioners of St. Margaret Mary Church in Swannanoa as they took to the road Oct. 18 for a Eucharistic procession in celebration of the parish’s 90th anniversary.
The beautiful fall mountain weather was a welcome gift for the close-knit parish that has weathered many storms in recent years. St. Margaret Mary faced down the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in 2024 and helped members of the community rebuild their lives afterward.
Two years later, another hurricane disrupted their anniversary celebrations. The procession was originally planned for Oct. 11, the anniversary of the church’s dedication. But high winds and rain from Hurricane Isaias forced the event to be postponed a week.
The procession, led by parochial administrator Father Aaron Huber, was the joyful conclusion to nearly a month of festivities that included a Sept. 20 anniversary picnic and an Oct. 16 Mass on the feast day of the parish’s patron saint, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque.
After the 8:30 a.m. Mass, the congregation who had filled the pews filed outside and followed Father Huber, who carried the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrance down Andrews Place and other adjacent roads and then across the street into Grovemont Park.
The presence of Christ had a special meaning there because the park was a destination of hope after Hurricane Helene. Members of the community – including St. Margaret Mary parishioners – set up there to share food and supplies with hundreds of storm survivors.
The surrounding mountains covered in fall color were a dramatic backdrop for the beautiful witness of faith.
“In the past I’ve had to drive hours and hundreds of miles to attend a procession like this, and now I get to take part in this beautiful day,” said parishioner Barbara Freeman, whose memories of St. Margaret Mary include Mass going on uninterrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also recalled bringing non-Catholic friends to retreats and events who eventually were drawn to the faith.
A church in the mountains
The idea of a Catholic parish in Swannanoa came from Raleigh Bishop William Hafey, who in 1936 purchased a plot of land to build a church to serve an influx of northeastern and French-Canadian Catholics who came to work at Beacon Manufacturing’s blanket mill, a major employer in the Valley for more than 80 years until it closed in 2002.
The church was built on the site of a former hotel that was part of the E.W. Grove real estate development called Grovemont-On-Swannanoa. Its construction was made possible by a $15,000 gift given by Kate Kelly of St. Louis through the Catholic Extension Society.
Bishop Hafey dedicated the church on Oct. 11, 1938. At the time it was the only Catholic parish between Biltmore and Lenoir east of Asheville.
Beverly Penland has been a member of the parish for 54 years, joining shortly after she moved to nearby Black Mountain from Massachusetts.
“When I came here there were only about 100 families in the parish and I came to practically know everybody, and I still know most of the people,” Penland said. “It’s just been a very warm and accepting parish for everyone, and I hope I’ve kept that going myself with how I treat people here.”
Penland raised her son and daughter at St. Margaret Mary and led faith formation classes for many years. She has watched the parish grow and change with the community. For a while, she said, the parish served a small community of Filipino Catholics, and then more Hispanic families joined as they moved into the area for work.
She also has seen the interior of the church change, from plain yellow glass windows to beautiful stained glass that was designed by a parishioner – the faces of the saints, the Blessed Mother and others modeled after early members of the congregation. She remembers when the Stations of the Cross went up, designed by another area resident. When she first started attending, there was no air conditioning.
As it looks back on 90 years of sharing God’s love in the Swannanoa valley, St. Margaret Mary is also looking toward the future. On Oct. 16, 2025, the parish launched a $4.5 million capital campaign called “Bells of Hope” in honor of the church bells that people in the area love to hear.
Ohio-based architect William Heyer is the lead architect for the project, which would expand the church’s seating capacity from 140 to 303 and add 3,086 square feet to its current 1,891-square-foot layout. Side aisles, new accessible seating, a portico and patio, a choir loft and a rest room will be added, and the narthex will be enlarged.
While the building is growing, Penland and others said the closeness of the community forged over the years and reinforced during Hurricane Helene will remain.
“Everyone that comes here feels welcome – it’s a church that is friendly and reverent,” she said. “Every priest that has been here has been a joy. And every time I’ve needed help, someone at this parish has been there for me.”
— Christina Lee Knauss