About Our Lady of Good Counsel · Holstein, Iowa
Our Lady of Good Counsel is a Roman Catholic parish in the small town of Holstein, in Ida County, northwestern Iowa. The parish is clustered (since July 2017) with Immaculate Conception Church in Cherokee under a single pastor, sharing staff and a single parish office. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 8:30 AM in English, and the parish belongs to the Diocese of Sioux City. The community serves the Catholic faithful of Holstein and the surrounding rural Ida County area, offering weekday Masses, First Friday adoration, and sacramental preparation together with its partner parish in Cherokee.
- Established
- 1884
- Patron
- Our Lady of Good Counsel
- Rector
- Fr. Daniel (Dan) Rupp
- Diocese
- Diocese of Sioux City
Why belong here
Our Lady of Good Counsel offers the warmth of a small-town rural Catholic parish where most parishioners know one another by name, while still being able to draw on the broader programming, faith formation, and sacramental preparation of its clustered partner parish in Cherokee. Members can attend a quiet Sunday morning Mass, weekday Masses on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, regular First Friday Euchar adoration, and easy confession before Sunday Mass — making it a faithful, low-key option for Catholic families and retirees in the Holstein and greater Ida County area.
Mass times at Our Lady of Good Counsel
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 8:00 AM – 8:15 AM (before 8:30 Mass)
- By appointment
Adoration times
- 1st Friday of the month, 8:25 AM – 9:00 AM
Parish History
The Catholic congregation in Holstein was organized in 1884 and built its first church in 1886, making Our Lady of Good Counsel one of the founding congregations of the young railroad town of Holstein, which had been platted only two years earlier in November 1882. For more than a century the parish was served as a mission by the priests of Immaculate Conception Church in Cherokee (founded 1873), sharing in the long line of pastors who tended the Cherokee/Holstein mission territory from Sioux City, Storm Lake, and LeMars. In July 2017, Bishop R. Walker Nickless formally clustered Our Lady of Good Counsel with Immaculate Conception to create the Catholic Communities of Cherokee and Holstein, served by a single pastor with shared staff and programming. The historic worship site in Holstein continues to operate with its own Sunday Mass, weekday Masses, and First Friday adoration.
- Catholic congregation organized 1884
- First church built 1886
- Served as mission of Immaculate Conception, Cherokee from founding through 2017
- Clustered with Immaculate Conception in July 2017
- Part of the Diocese of Sioux City
Mass & Liturgical Schedule
Our Lady of Good Counsel celebrates Sunday Mass in English at 8:30 AM. The parish also shares a daily Mass schedule with its partner parish in Cherokee: 8:00 AM weekday Masses are offered at Our Lady of Good Counsel on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, while Tuesday and Thursday daily Masses are at Immaculate Conception in Cherokee. The Saturday Vigil Mass (5:00 PM) and the additional Sunday Mass (10:30 AM) are celebrated at Immaculate Conception.
- Sunday Mass: 8:30 AM (English)
- Weekday Masses: Mon/Wed/Fri 8:00 AM at OLGC; Tue/Thu 8:00 AM at Immaculate Conception
- Saturday Vigil: 5:00 PM at Immaculate Conception, Cherokee
- Liturgy is celebrated in English only
Parish Staff & Clergy
Our Lady of Good Counsel and Immaculate Conception share a single pastoral team under the Diocese of Sioux City. Fr. Daniel (Dan) Rupp was appointed pastor in 2021 and serves both worship sites. The parish office is staffed by Michelle Degan and Mary Forristal and is shared between the Cherokee and Holstein locations.
- Pastor: Fr. Daniel (Dan) Rupp (since 2021)
- Office Personnel: Michelle Degan, Mary Forristal
- Clustered with Immaculate Conception, Cherokee (since July 2017)
Clustered Parish Arrangement
Since July 2017 Our Lady of Good Counsel, Holstein has been clustered with Immaculate Conception, Cherokee under one pastor, forming the 'Catholic Communities of Cherokee and Holstein.' The two parishes maintain their own worship sites, Mass schedules, and parish identity, but share sacramental preparation, faith formation, staff, and administrative resources. The shared parish office is the principal point of contact for both communities.
- Clustering effective July 2017
- Bishop R. Walker Nickless, Diocese of Sioux City, authorized the clustering
- Partner parish: Immaculate Conception, 709 W Cedar St., Cherokee, IA
- Joint pastoral, faith-formation, and sacramental-preparation programs
Ministries & Faith Formation
The parish supports lay ministries including a Lector/Reader program and shares faith-formation and sacramental-preparation programming with Immaculate Conception, Cherokee. Because the parish is small and rural, day-to-day parish life centers on weekly and daily Mass, First Friday adoration, and sacramental celebrations (baptisms, weddings, anointings) coordinated through the clustered parish office.
- Lector / Reader ministry
- Shared faith-formation program with Immaculate Conception, Cherokee
- RCIA / OCIA and adult sacramental preparation through the clustered parish
Visiting & Contact Information
Visitors are always welcome at Our Lady of Good Counsel. The church is located at 513 Mueller Street in Holstein (mailing address PO Box 380, Holstein, IA 51025), in the same neighborhood as Holstein's other pioneer churches (St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran, 1884, and the Methodist church, organized 1884). The parish phone is (712) 368-4755 and the shared parish email is [email protected].
- Address: 513 Mueller Street, PO Box 380, Holstein, IA 51025
- Phone: (712) 368-4755
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: cherokeecountycatholics.org
- Office hours handled by Michelle Degan and Mary Forristal
Diocese of Sioux City
Our Lady of Good Counsel is one of 78 parishes in the Diocese of Sioux City, a Roman Catholic diocese that covers much of northwestern Iowa. The diocese is led by Bishop R. Walker Nickless and maintains a parish finder and clergy directory at scdiocese.org. Our Lady of Good Counsel is listed in the diocesan parish finder and is featured in the diocese's official clergy directory entry for Fr. Daniel Rupp.
- Diocese: Sioux City
- Diocesan website: scdiocese.org
- Bishop: R. Walker Nickless
- Diocesan parish finder lists Our Lady of Good Counsel under 'Holstein'
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father McNulty1870–1871
First priest for the Cherokee/Holstein mission territory; arrived by train from Sioux City.
- Father Lenahan1871–1877
Served Immaculate Conception, Cherokee and surrounding missions including Holstein.
- Father Meis1877–1881
- Father Gaffney1881–1882
- Father Slattery1882–1887
- Father Thomas Reynold1887
- Father J. T. Saunders1887–1904
Long-tenured pastor during which Our Lady of Good Counsel, Holstein was established and built (1884/1886).
- Father J. F. Barron1904–1905
- Father W. P. Desmond1905–1919
- Father Edward Masterson1919–1925
- Father J. M. McAuliffe1925–1926
- Father Edward J. Smith1926–1933
- Father C. J. Ivis1933–1935
- Father Thomas Parle1935–1939
- Father F. P. Schultes1939–1948
- Father Louis J. Lynch1948–1960
- Father E. D. Thom1960–1964
- Father J. G. Skahill1964–1966
- Father Robert Dougherty1966–1973
- Father R. W. Reinhart1973–1975
- Father Alfred E. McCoy1975–1983
- Father Richard S. Ries1983–1990
- Father James R. Smith1990–1997
- Father Timothy R. Schott1997–2000
- Father Armand J. Bertrand2000–2012
- Father Dan Guenther2012–2018
Served as the first pastor under the July 2017 clustering of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Holstein with Immaculate Conception, Cherokee.
- Father Jeff Schleisman2018–2019
- Father Mark Stoll2019–2021
- Father Daniel (Dan) Rupp2021–present
Current pastor of the Catholic Communities of Cherokee and Holstein.