About Our Lady of Mercy Mission · Melstone, Montana
Our Lady of Mercy Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church serving the ranching and farming community of Melstone, Montana, in Musselshell County on the high plains of central Montana. It is classified by the Diocese of Great Falls–Billings as a mission of St. Benedict Church in Roundup, meaning it shares a pastor with the parent parish and a handful of surrounding mission communities in the lower Musselshell River valley. Sunday Mass is celebrated once a week, and the mission maintains the Catholic sacramental life of one of Montana's most sparsely populated corners.
- Patron
- Our Lady of Mercy
- Rector
- Fr. Amulraj Yedanapalli, HGN
- Diocese
- Diocese of Great Falls–Billings
Why belong here
Our Lady of Mercy brings weekly Sunday Mass and the sacraments to a small ranching community on Montana's high plains where Catholics would otherwise be a long drive from any parish. As a mission of St. Benedict in Roundup, it is cared for by a Herald of Good News priest who also serves five other surrounding missions, making it a tight-knit rural Catholic family where every face is known. For Catholics living in or passing through the lower Musselshell River valley, it is a quiet, dependable place to worship and stay connected to the faith.
Mass times at Our Lady of Mercy Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Our Lady of Mercy Mission
Our Lady of Mercy is a Catholic mission church in Melstone, Montana, serving the ranching and farming families of Musselshell County. It belongs to the Diocese of Great Falls–Billings and is officially listed as a mission of St. Benedict Church in Roundup, about 34 miles to the east. The mission gathers for one Sunday Mass each week and shares its priest with five other surrounding mission communities.
History & Pastoral Story
As a mission church on Montana's open plains, Our Lady of Mercy has historically been served by itinerant priests who traveled long distances across ranch and range land to bring Mass and the sacraments to scattered Catholic families. In 2013–2014, Fr. Douglas Krings cared for the Roundup-area mission cluster and was remembered fondly by his Melstone parishioners, who planted a memorial tree at the mission in his honor. Today the mission is served by Fr. Amulraj Yedanapalli, HGN, a member of the Herald of Good News religious order who shepherds a six-church cluster from his base at St. Benedict in Roundup.
- Fr. Douglas Krings served the mission cluster around 2013–2014
- Parishioners planted a memorial tree in Fr. Krings' honor at the mission
- Fr. Amulraj Yedanapalli, HGN currently serves as pastor (Herald of Good News order)
Mass & Worship Schedule
The mission offers one weekly Sunday Mass at 11:30 AM. Because the mission is part of a multi-church cluster, confessions and adoration are not separately published for Melstone and are typically available through the parent parish, St. Benedict in Roundup.
- Sunday Mass: 11:30 AM
Diocese of Great Falls–Billings
Our Lady of Mercy belongs to the Diocese of Great Falls–Billings, which spans the eastern two-thirds of Montana and is led by Bishop Jeff Fleming. The diocese is home to 47 parishes and 50 missions serving rural, reservation, and urban Catholic communities from Great Falls and Billings to small high-plains towns like Melstone. The diocese was originally erected in 1904 as the Diocese of Great Falls and renamed the Diocese of Great Falls–Billings in 1980 to recognize the Catholic community in Billings, Montana's largest city.
- Diocese: Great Falls–Billings
- Bishop: Jeff Fleming
- Parishes: 47 / Missions: 50
- Parent parish: St. Benedict, Roundup
Cluster of Missions Served from Roundup
Because Our Lady of Mercy is too small to support a resident priest, it shares a pastor and phone number with five other small Catholic communities in the lower Musselshell River valley, all based out of St. Benedict Church in Roundup. This 'cluster parish' model is a common arrangement across the diocese, allowing one Herald of Good News priest to bring weekly Mass and the sacraments to widely scattered rural congregations.
- St. Benedict Church — 503 Main St., Roundup (parent parish)
- Our Lady of Mercy — Melstone
- St. Theresa of the Little Flower — Broadview
- St. Mathias — Ryegate
- St. Aloysius — Winnett
- St. Honorata Chapel — Musselshell
- Shared phone: (406) 323-1019
The Community of Melstone
Melstone is a small town in Musselshell County, central Montana, with a 2020 population of just 126. It was founded in 1908 as a crew base for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and was named by Milwaukee Road president Albert J. Earling after Melvin Stone, a Chicago Tribune journalist who happened to be sharing his train. After the Milwaukee Road was abandoned in 1980, Melstone survived as a service center for farmers and ranchers in the lower Musselshell River valley, sustained by irrigated hay and alfalfa ground and the Melstone Oil Field.
- Population: 126 (2020 census)
- Founded: 1908
- County: Musselshell
- Named for Melvin Stone, Chicago Tribune journalist
Visiting & Contact
Our Lady of Mercy Mission is located on 6th Avenue West in Melstone, Montana. Visitors and parishioners are encouraged to call the shared parish phone line, (406) 323-1019, which rings at St. Benedict Church in Roundup, for Mass intentions, sacramental needs, and pastoral inquiries. The mission falls under the umbrella of the diocesan website at diocesegfb.org.
- Address: 121 6th Ave. W, Melstone, MT 59054
- Phone: (406) 323-1019
- Website: diocesegfb.org
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Douglas Kringsc. 2013–2014
Mount Angel Abbey seminarian/priest who served the Roundup cluster of missions including Our Lady of Mercy, Melstone. Parishioners planted a memorial tree in his honor at the mission.
- Fr. Amulraj Yedanapalli, HGNpresent
Member of the Herald of Good News religious order; pastor of St. Benedict, Roundup and its mission cluster including Our Lady of Mercy.