About Our Lady of Mount Carmel · Mount Carmel, Iowa
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a historic rural Catholic parish in the small town of Mount Carmel, in western Carroll County, Iowa. Established in 1869 by German Catholic settlers encouraged by Bishop Hennessey of Dubuque, it is the oldest Catholic parish in the county. The parish is now part of Good Shepherd Catholic Parish, a western-Carroll County cluster that also includes St. Bernard (Breda), St. John the Baptist (Arcadia), Sacred Heart (Templeton), St. Augustine (Halbur) and Holy Angels (Roselle). After more than 150 years the parish remains active, with its current brick church — built after the 1906 fire — still standing at 19471 140th Street.
- Established
- 1869
- Patron
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Rector
- Rev. Terry A. Roder
- Diocese
- Diocese of Sioux City
Why belong here
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is one of the oldest Catholic communities in western Iowa, founded in 1869 by German Catholic settlers and now part of the Good Shepherd Catholic Parish family. Parishioners can worship in a beautiful 1907 brick church that has hosted generations of the same Catholic families, share in a Catholic school tradition that ran continuously for 106 years under the Franciscan Sisters of LaCrosse, and belong to a parish with extraordinary vocational fruit — nine priests and thirty women religious have come from this small rural community. Today the parish offers weekend and Wednesday morning Mass on site, joins five neighbouring parishes in western Carroll County for shared faith formation and sacramental preparation, and is known for its warm, multigenerational small-town Catholic life.
Mass times at Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Available by appointment (through Good Shepherd Catholic Parish office in Breda)
Parish Identity & Quick Facts
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church sits at 19471 140th Street in Mount Carmel, Iowa. The parish was established in 1869, and the present brick church was built in 1907 after a fire destroyed its predecessor. The parish has been served continuously by diocesan priests for more than 150 years and today belongs to Good Shepherd Catholic Parish, a cluster of six western Carroll County parishes under the Diocese of Sioux City.
- Established: 1869
- Current church building: 1907
- Diocese: Sioux City
- Cluster: Good Shepherd Catholic Parish (western Carroll County)
- Address: 19471 140th St, Mount Carmel, IA
- Office phone: 712-673-2582
History
The parish was founded by German Catholic settlers encouraged by Bishop Hennessey of Dubuque. Lambert Kniest, Henry Baumhover and friends named their new settlement after the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in 1868 and built the first church the following year. Over the decades three successive church buildings were lost to fire and lightning before the present 1907 brick church was completed. A Catholic school, run by the Franciscan Sisters of LaCrosse from 1880 until 1986, served local families for more than a century. Mount Carmel was named a Jubilee parish in 2000 and observed its sesquicentennial in July 2021.
- 1868 — settlement named on the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- 1869 — first frame church built; Father Henry J. Heimbucher first pastor
- 1874 — first school opened with six Catholic lay teachers
- 1880 — Franciscan Sisters of LaCrosse begin 106-year tenure
- 1881 — second (brick) church built; burned 1883
- 1892 — lightning destroys steeple of third church
- 1906 — third church burns; rebuilt 1907 (present building)
- 2000 — named one of five diocesan Jubilee parishes
- 2021 — sesquicentennial celebrated
Pastor & Parish Staff
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is currently served by Rev. Terry A. Roder, who resides at St. Bernard's rectory in Breda. Parish administrative and bookkeeping work is handled by Cindy Lawler, the Administrative Assistant / Bookkeeper for Good Shepherd Catholic Parish, whose office hours are Tuesdays and Fridays, 7:30 AM–11:30 AM.
- Pastor: Rev. Terry A. Roder (residing at St. Bernard, Breda)
- Pastor's phone: 712-673-2351
- Email: RoderTscdiocese.org
- Administrative Assistant / Bookkeeper: Cindy Lawler
- Parish office phone: 712-673-2582
- Office email: goodshepherdwestianet.net
Mass & Sacrament Schedule
Within the Good Shepherd Catholic Parish cluster, Our Lady of Mount Carmel continues to host scheduled weekday and Sunday Mass. Weekend Mass at Mount Carmel is celebrated Sunday at 8:00 AM, and weekday Mass is celebrated at the church on Wednesday at 8:00 AM. Confessions and other sacraments are arranged through the Breda parish office or by appointment.
- Sunday Mass – 8:00 AM
- Wednesday Mass – 8:00 AM
- Confession – by appointment through the parish office in Breda
Faith Formation & Schools
Although OLMC's own school closed through the regional consolidation that produced Christ the King and later Kuemper Catholic Schools, the parish remains actively connected to Catholic education. The parish website carries notices of upcoming Kuemper Catholic School Board Meetings, indicating current trustee involvement in the regional Catholic school system that carries on the educational mission begun at Mount Carmel in 1874 and led by the Franciscan Sisters from 1880 to 1986.
- Original Mount Carmel school founded 1874
- Franciscan Sisters of LaCrosse served 1880–1986 (106 years)
- School consolidated regionally — now part of Kuemper Catholic Schools
- Parish representation on Kuemper School Board
Community & Parish Life
The parish publishes photo albums from recent years (2017, 2018, 2019) online documenting parish celebrations and gatherings. The site also features year-end financial reports (Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Fiscal Year Report) and news posts from the wider Good Shepherd Catholic Parish — including appeals for special flood-relief collections and other shared initiatives — showing that the parish still participates actively in the life of the larger western Carroll County Catholic community.
- Photo albums from 2017, 2018, 2019
- Financial transparency — OLMC Year-End Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Fiscal Year Report posted online
- Joint Good Shepherd Catholic Parish news & special collections (e.g., flood relief)
Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
The parish retains a special devotion to its patroness. The website publishes the traditional 'Prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel,' honouring her as 'most beautiful flower of Mount Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin,' and asking her intercession as 'Star of the Sea' and 'Mother' for those who have recourse to her.
- Patroness: Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Feast day: July 16
- Traditional 'Prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel' published on the parish site
Contact & Visiting
The parish office is staffed Tuesdays and Fridays, 7:30 AM–11:30 AM and is physically located at St. Bernard School in Breda. The mailing address is PO Box 39, Mount Carmel, Iowa. The pastor may be reached through the Breda rectory at 712-673-2351, while parish bookkeeping and administration are handled by Cindy Lawler at 712-673-2582 / goodshepherdwestianet.net.
- Parish office at St. Bernard School, Breda
- Office hours: Tues & Fri, 7:30–11:30 AM
- Rectory phone: 712-673-2351
- Parish office phone: 712-673-2582
- Mailing: PO Box 39, Mount Carmel, IA
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Henry J. Heimbucher1869–
First pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
- Fathers John Kempker, Theodore Wegmann, John B. Ferderich, John Anler, Ignatius Rottler, Gerhard H. Luehsmann, Frederick W. Huesmann, Albert J. Schaefer, John B. Bauemler, Edward J. Jungblutt, Simon P. Roth, Bernard Loeffelholz, Peter M. Sturm, Otmar W. Koester, Dale F. Koster, Leroy Seuntjens, Jerome Cosgrove, Michael Larkin, Msgr. A. W. Behrens, Robert Brown
Listed as successive pastors of OLMC in the parish's history page
- Rev. Dr. Timothy A. FriedrichsenJuly 2, 2019–present (in parish history roster as of 2020)
Listed in parish history as pastor beginning July 2, 2019
- Very Rev. Mark J. Stoll, JCL, VFJuly 10, 2018 – July 2, 2019
- Rev. Kevin M. RichterJune 10, 2017 – July 10, 2018
- Rev. Mark J. Stoll, JCLAugust 1, 2016 – June 10, 2017
- Rev. Gary B. Snyder2011 – July 31, 2016
- Rev. Joseph A. Dillinger2008–2011
- Rev. James McAlpin2004–2008