Mason was ordained deacon in 1907 and priest on May 24, 1908, by Bishop
Robert Atkinson Gibson, the latter in the VTS's Immanuel Chapel. His first position was at Mission Home in
Greene County, which permitted Rev. George Mayo to establish the
Blue Ridge Industrial School, a boarding school to provide higher education to children and adults in the
Blue Ridge Mountains after Rev.
Frederick Neve established churches and 13 day schools in isolated communities by 1909. Mason continued in that position for about a decade, including after Neve's missions formally became the Archdeaconry of Blue Ridge. After 1911 Mason began campaigning to limit
moonshine stills in those rural areas because of their detrimental effect on mountain families. He achieved some success by 1914 in Greene and nearby
Albemarle Counties, by switching tactics after surviving assassination attempts (which he attributed to God's grace) and opening a vinegar factory which paid farmers the same price for apples as did still owners. In addition to illiteracy hurting isolated mountain families, the
American chestnut blight was devastating trees which had one provided important income for locals, as well as timber for homes and forage for their hogs. In 1918 Rev. Mason accepted a position as rector of Christ Church in
Charlottesville, Virginia, while also continuing to serve mountain missions in surrounding Albemarle and other counties. In 1926 Mason became Associate Archdeacon of the Blue Ridge (the presumed heir-apparent to the active but 70-year-old Neve). In 1928, funding permitted them to develop an additional building at Mission Home, a preventorium to nurse mountain children back to health (particularly from
tuberculosis, a dreaded disease in the community). By 1930, Virginia and federal officials were planning to construct
Skyline Drive and
Shenandoah National Park, which would bisect the missions (and take over those at
Simmons' Gap and
Upper Pocosin), as well as cause hardship for over 600 displaced mountain people, despite promises for relocation and some compensation. By 1936, all the mission schools except for the Blue Ridge Industrial School were closed (although many were now operated by the surrounding counties), but the promised new houses for 50 families went unfulfilled. Nonetheless the educational effort succeeded, as
E.I. DuPont de Nemours and
Crompton Shenandoah moved into
Waynesboro, and other textile and manufacturing plants moved into the
Piedmont region. Now-literate mountain people could compete for those jobs in addition to the still-developing tourist industry. ==Bishop==