Whoever should come to the brothers, be he friend or enemy, thief or robber, let him be kindly received....
—from the Rule of Saint Francis.

Built in 1921, this building housed Saint Francis Catholic Church until the new sanctuary was constructed further back in the forest. The Catholic Church was the first Christian organization to send missionaries to the Pacific Northwest. They were an integral part of the French Canadian world that surrounded Hudson's Bay Company, headquartered in Fort Vancouver Washington. However, when Oregon became a Territory in 1849, the Catholics were effectively denied access to the Territory. Aside from being regarded as a relic of European aristocracy, the Catholics were accused of all kinds of outrageous crimes, including the deaths of the Presbyterian missionaries, Marcus Whitman and his family, in Walla Walla Washington in 1846. In denying access to the Catholics, Washington County denied access to the rich cultural traditions that come to light whenever a scholar scratches the surface of Catholicism. For example, it ought to be of interest to the Sherwood Robin Hood Festival that the namesake of Saint Francis Catholic Church had a special interest in thieves and robbers. Saint Francis named them specifically as welcome guests to his order, which valued music and laughter as treasures more precious than money.

Just as minority groups of all kinds were befriended by St. Francis and Robin Hood, so the Church of St. Francis in Sherwood encouraged immigrants from Italy, Belgium, Germany to become active partners in the building of Old Sherwood Town.