About Sacred Heart · West Des Moines, Iowa
Sacred Heart Catholic Church is a large, bilingual parish in West Des Moines, Iowa, situated at 1627 Grand Avenue in the Diocese of Des Moines. The current church building was completed in 1967 and serves a diverse community that worships primarily in English and Spanish, with recent immigrants from many countries represented in the parish family. Under the pastoral leadership of Fr. Chris Hartshorn (with Fr. Emmanuel Bassey as associate pastor), the parish identifies itself as a community of 'Active Apostles on fire for Jesus Christ,' centered on a personal encounter with Jesus through the Eucharist. Sacred Heart runs a parish school (Sacred Heart School at 1601 Grand Avenue) and a robust Faith Formation program for children, youth, and families.
- Patron
- Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Rector
- Fr. Chris Hartshorn
- Diocese
- Diocese of Des Moines
Why belong here
Sacred Heart is a large, welcoming parish community that explicitly invites people to 'have a personal encounter with the intimacy of Jesus through the Eucharist' and to live as Active Apostles sharing the Good News. It is one of relatively few West Des Moines parishes offering a weekly Spanish Mass (Sunday 1:00 PM) alongside three English Sunday Masses, making it a natural spiritual home for bilingual families and recent immigrants. The parish pairs that liturgical reach with a full family-formation track (K–6 Family Formation, SacPrep, EDGE middle school, SMASH high school, Confirmation), a parish school, and small groups for adults — all geared toward equipping parents to be 'the first educators of the faith.'
Mass times at Sacred Heart
Weekly Mass schedule
Who We Are (Parish Vision)
Sacred Heart frames itself with a vision statement set off in a code-style banner: 'Sharing the Good News of God's Love through Active Apostleship.' The parish opens its doors to people seeking 'a personal encounter with the intimacy of Jesus through the Eucharist,' and then sends that encounter back outward into the community. Parish leadership emphasizes that the Gospel 'is not meant to be kept as a personal possession but is meant to be given away and shared with others,' and frames parishioners as 'Active Apostles on fire for Jesus Christ.'
- Vision: Sharing the Good News of God's Love through Active Apostleship
- Mission: equip families to be the first educators of the faith
- Identity: a large, diverse, bilingual (English/Spanish) parish community
Our Clergy
The parish is currently led by Pastor Fr. Chris Hartshorn and Associate Pastor Fr. Emmanuel Bassey. Fr. Chris has been associated with the parish in pastoral ministry for at least 32 years, as marked by a community bike-ride event from Sacred Heart to Confluence Brewing. Fr. Emmanuel Bassey can be reached via [email protected] and Fr. Chris via [email protected]. Both priests are listed on the parish's dedicated 'Our Clergy' page.
- Fr. Chris Hartshorn — Pastor
- Fr. Emmanuel Bassey — Associate Pastor ([email protected])
Faith Formation & Religious Education
The parish's 2026–2027 Faith Formation registration is open and is structured around parents as the primary teachers of the faith, in line with the post-Vatican II baptismal rite. Programs span early elementary through high school, plus sacramental preparation, and are designed to 'equip each of our parents and families with the tools they need share the faith.' Registration is handled through the parish's online registration-and-payment portal.
- Family Formation (K–6)
- SacPrep (First Communion)
- Sacraments of Initiation
- Faith Formation (Religious Ed)
- Youth Ministry (grades 7–12)
- Confirmation
- EDGE (Middle School)
- SMASH (High School)
Parish School (Sacred Heart School)
Sacred Heart School sits right next to the church at 1601 Grand Avenue, West Des Moines, IA 50265, sharing the parish's Grand Avenue campus. The school office phone listed on the parish contact page is 515-223-128x, and the office is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on school days (with reduced hours when school is not in session). The parish website links directly to the school's own site for curriculum, enrollment, and family information.
- Address: 1601 Grand Avenue, West Des Moines, IA 50265
- School office hours: 7:30 AM – 3:00 PM on school days
- Linked from the parish Contact page as 'Sacred Heart School'
Parish Life, Fellowship & Events
Sacred Heart runs an active calendar of community-building events that pair faith with fellowship. Recent and upcoming highlights on the parish homepage include a community bike ride from Sacred Heart to Confluence Brewing to 'Celebrate 32 years of Fr. Chris' (June 28, 3 PM) and a Swing Dance Ball with live big band music (July 18). The parish also hosted a special pilgrimage of the relics of six Mexican martyr-priests (members of the Knights of Columbus killed during the early-20th-century religious persecution in Mexico) on Friday evening in June, reflecting the parish's strong Spanish-speaking community.
- Fr. Chris anniversary bike ride to Confluence Brewing
- Swing Dance Ball with live big band music
- Pilgrimage veneration of the relics of six Mexican martyr-priests
Contact, Office & Visit Information
The parish office is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM and on Friday from 7:30 AM to noon. The main parish phone is (515) 225-6414, with a fax line of 515-225-9413, and the general inbox is [email protected]. The address — 1627 Grand Avenue, West Des Moines, IA 50265 — places Sacred Heart on the same Grand Avenue corridor as Sacred Heart School one block away.
- Phone: (515) 225-6414
- Fax: 515-225-9413
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Mon–Thu 7:30 AM–3:30 PM; Fri 7:30 AM–noon