About Our Lady of the Holy Rosary · Lost Nation, Iowa
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (OLHR) is a small rural Roman Catholic parish in Clinton County, Iowa, formed in 2015 through the merger of historic Sacred Heart Parish in Lost Nation and St. James Parish in Toronto. It belongs to the Diocese of Davenport and today operates as a single parish with two worship centers — Sacred Heart Church at 903 Main Street in Lost Nation and the former St. James Church in Toronto — that alternate hosting Saturday evening Mass. Father Bob Cloos serves as pastor of OLHR along with four neighboring parishes in the St. Patrick Cluster, and the community is known for its close-knit lay leadership, shared evangelization team, and Advent retreats and potlucks that draw together all five cluster parishes.
- Established
- 2015
- Patron
- Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Most Holy Rosary)
- Rector
- Father Bob (Robert) Cloos
- Diocese
- Diocese of Davenport
Why belong here
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is a warm, family-sized rural parish where, despite the challenges of small-town Catholic life, members actively shape the parish's future through a shared five-parish evangelization team. Worship alternates between two historic country churches — Sacred Heart in Lost Nation and the former St. James in Toronto — with a monthly reception after Mass that makes newcomers feel at home. Belonging here means joining a tight-knit community that still gathers for potlucks, Advent retreats, food-pantry drives, and the quiet, faithful work of bringing the Eucharist to families scattered across the rolling farmland of northern Clinton County.
Mass times at Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
Weekly Mass schedule
Parish History & 2015 Merger
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary was canonically erected by the Diocese of Davenport on August 5, 2015, when longtime St. James Parish in Toronto and Sacred Heart Parish in Lost Nation merged into a single parish operating two worship sites. The consolidation was shepherded by Father Francis Odoom, a priest from Ghana who had arrived in eastern Iowa just weeks earlier. Father Odoom listened to concerns from both communities for nearly a year before guiding them into one parish family; founding parishioner Chris Meyer later called him 'the one God sent' to accomplish the merger 'competently and gently.' In summer 2025, OLHR celebrated its 10th anniversary with a potluck after Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Lost Nation.
- Merged parish officially incorporated in Iowa on August 5, 2015
- Predecessor parishes: Sacred Heart (Lost Nation) and St. James (Toronto)
- Father Francis Odoom led the merger process (2015–June 2022)
- 10th anniversary celebrated in 2025 with parish potluck
Leadership: Father Bob Cloos
Father Robert 'Bob' Cloos has been pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary since July 2022. As of August 2024 he was 66 years old and pastoring five parishes across northern Clinton County. Father Cloos is widely praised by parishioners for being approachable and prayerful; he opens and closes cluster retreats, blesses Advent wreaths, and celebrates funerals, weddings, and weekly Masses across the cluster. He has spoken publicly about how the parishioners' prayers and practical support have sustained him, including through heart-health evaluations.
- Pastor since July 2022
- Also serves Assumption & St. Patrick-Charlotte, St. Patrick-Delmar, Immaculate Conception-Petersville, and Ss. Mary & Joseph-Sugar Creek
- Known for opening/closing prayers at cluster retreats and for presiding at funeral Masses in the parish
St. Patrick Cluster & Evangelization Team
OLHR is one of five Clinton County parishes that share a single pastor and operate as the 'St. Patrick Cluster': Our Lady of the Holy Rosary (Lost Nation/Toronto), Assumption & St. Patrick (Charlotte), St. Patrick (Delmar), Immaculate Conception (Petersville), and Ss. Mary & Joseph (Sugar Creek). A joint Evangelization Team — including OLHR members Chris Meyer and Linda Sander — coordinates cluster-wide events like retreats, faith formation for children, and food-pantry drives, and works to address the realities of rural ministry: aging congregations, fewer Mass-goers, and declining enrollment in religious education.
- Five-parish cluster sharing Father Bob Cloos
- Joint Evangelization Team coordinates retreats, youth ministry, and outreach
- Annual 'Rejoice in Hope' Advent Retreat hosted at St. Patrick-Delmar draws 100+ from the cluster
- Cluster-wide Lenten retreat at St. Patrick-Delmar
Parish Ministries & Faith Formation
OLHR's small community fills many liturgical and pastoral roles. Eucharistic ministers, lectors, greeters, altar servers, and musicians serve at both the Lost Nation and Toronto worship sites so that liturgical life is consistent across the parish. Religious education is coordinated at the cluster level, with religious-ed students taking active roles at events like the Advent retreat — for example, building the Advent wreath and explaining the meaning of each candle during the prayer service.
- Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, Greeters, Altar Servers
- Parish choir (alternates between worship sites)
- Cluster choir for retreat music worship
- Religious Education for youth, with cluster-wide events
Outreach, Charity & Community Life
The parish and its cluster are deeply involved in local outreach. Religious-education students encourage parishioners to bring food items for the cluster's food pantries at retreats, and Knights of Columbus members and other parishioners serve soup, sandwiches, and dessert after major events like the Advent retreat. First-Mass-of-the-month receptions and parish potlucks — including the 10th-anniversary celebration in 2025 — are hallmarks of community life. Parishioners describe the cluster parishes as facing every challenge 'as a family of God' and praying to 'keep the parishioners we have, regain some of the lost sheep and spread the Good News to new parishioners.'
- Food pantry ministry across the cluster
- Knights of Columbus supper at Advent retreat (Grossman Hall, St. Patrick-Delmar)
- Monthly fellowship reception after the first Saturday Mass
- Parish potlucks, including the 10th-anniversary celebration in 2025
Diocese of Davenport
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is a parish of the Diocese of Davenport (Roman Catholic), the Latin-rite diocese covering the southeastern quarter of Iowa. The parish's corporation, 'Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church of Lost Nation, Iowa,' was registered with the Iowa Secretary of State on August 5, 2015, as a Revised Domestic Non-Profit. Its registered agent — historically Thomas J. Hennan and later Anthony J. Herold — operates out of the Diocese of Davenport Chancery at 780 West Central Park Avenue, Davenport, IA 52804.
- Diocese: Davenport
- Iowa corporate entity #505587, incorporated August 5, 2015
- Registered agent address: 780 West Central Park Ave., Davenport, IA 52804
- Part of the wider Davenport diocesan effort to consolidate viable rural parishes
Visiting & Contact Information
Parishioners and visitors can reach Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at its Lost Nation office: 903 Main Street, P.O. Box 127, Lost Nation, Iowa 52254. The parish phone is (563) 678-2200 and the parish email is [email protected]. Because the weekend Mass location alternates between Sacred Heart in Lost Nation and St. James in Toronto, visitors are encouraged to call ahead or check the bulletin/website for that week's site. The parish is listed on parishesonline.com under its previous 'Sacred Heart-Lost Nation' entry.
- Address: 903 Main St., P.O. Box 127, Lost Nation, IA 52254
- Phone: (563) 678-2200
- Email: [email protected]
- Listed online at parishesonline.com/organization/st-patrick-52037
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Bill Kneemilleruntil 2015
Pastored the pre-merger cluster of Sacred Heart-Lost Nation, Ss. Philip & James-Grand Mound and Sacred Heart-Oxford Junction; relieved of duties in 2015 to serve as a military chaplain in the Middle East with the Army Reserves.
- Father Francis OdoomNovember 2015 – June 30, 2022
Ghanaian priest from the Archdiocese of Cape Coast who guided the 2015 merger of St. James-Toronto and Sacred Heart-Lost Nation into Our Lady of the Holy Rosary. Completed a doctorate at St. Ambrose University while serving the cluster.
- Father Robert (Bob) CloosJuly 2022 – present
Age 66 as of 2024. Shepherds OLHR together with four other parishes in the St. Patrick Cluster (Assumption & St. Patrick-Charlotte, St. Patrick-Delmar, Immaculate Conception-Petersville, Ss. Mary & Joseph-Sugar Creek).