About Saint Joseph Catholic Church · Mount Ayr, Iowa
Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Mount Ayr, Iowa is a small Catholic parish in Ringgold County served by the Diocese of Des Moines. Together with St. Bernard Catholic Church in Osceola and St. Patrick Catholic Church in Grand River, it forms a three-parish cluster of faith communities served from the St. Bernard parish office. The parish has its roots going back to 1874 when Catholic families in the area were part of the Maloy mission, and it has worshipped on its present site at 100 N. Polk Street since the 1990s, when a new church building replaced the original 1883 structure.
- Established
- 1874
- Patron
- Saint Joseph
- Rector
- Father Tomson Thomas
- Diocese
- Diocese of Des Moines
Why belong here
Saint Joseph is a small, family-sized parish of approximately 45 households in rural Ringgold County, where parishioners know one another by name and contribute directly to the life of the church — from CCD and confirmation classes to the planning and fundraising that built the present worship space and added stained glass windows. As part of the St. Bernard–St. Joseph–St. Patrick cluster led by Father Tomson Thomas, visitors and new arrivals find a pastoral team that intentionally serves three rural communities with shared worship, formation and sacramental life. Registration is simple: you can fill out an online form or stop by the parish office in Osceola, and you are welcomed into a parish that is rooted in south-central Iowa Catholic history going back to the 1870s.
Mass times at Saint Joseph Catholic Church
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 7:30–8:00 a.m.
- Thursday 5:00–5:30 p.m. (30 minutes before Mass)
About the Parish
Saint Joseph Catholic Church sits in the seat of Ringgold County, in the small south-Iowa community of Mount Ayr. It is one of three parishes served as a single pastoral cluster: St. Bernard in Osceola (the host parish and mailing address), St. Patrick in Grand River, and St. Joseph here. All three are part of the Diocese of Des Moines and are led today by Father Tomson Thomas.
- Cluster parishes: St. Bernard (Osceola), St. Joseph (Mt. Ayr), St. Patrick (Grand River)
- Diocese of Des Moines
- Cluster office: 222 E. Pearl St., Osceola, IA 50213
History of St. Joseph
St. Joseph traces its roots back to 1874, when Mount Ayr's Catholics were still considered a mission of the Maloy parish founded by Irish Catholic settlers. The Maloy community had worshipped in Luke Shay's parlor from 1874 before building their own chapel a quarter-mile north of town in 1875. Catholics in Mount Ayr did not have their own church building until 1914. They purchased the old Christian (Congregational) Church — which the Christian congregation had built in 1883 — and after repairs, Bishop ... dedicated it as St. Joseph Catholic Church on December 9, 1914. That 1883/1914 structure served the parish until plans for a new building were approved by the diocese in the early 1990s; the present church at 100 N. Polk Street was constructed in 1992. In October 1998, the parish began a fund drive to install six stained-glass windows in the new church's worship area, with two additional windows planned for the parish hall and office.
- Mission of Maloy parish since 1874
- Old Christian Church built 1883; purchased 1914
- Dedicated as St. Joseph Catholic Church on Dec. 9, 1914
- Joined Leon Regional Catholic Community, 1971
- Present church building constructed, 1992
- Stained-glass window capital campaign launched, 1998
Pastor and Cluster Leadership
St. Joseph is pastored today by Father Tomson Thomas, who serves all three parishes of the cluster (St. Bernard, St. Joseph, St. Patrick). Father Tomson can be reached via the parish office in Osceola. A predecessor in the cluster, Father David Polich, was assigned by Bishop Richard Pates of the Diocese of Des Moines in the late 1990s to the same three-parish team. The parish's first resident pastor was Father F. Burkheiser, who arrived in 1914 upon the dedication of the original church.
- Current pastor: Father Tomson Thomas
- Father David Polich: former cluster pastor (late 1990s)
- Father F. Burkheiser: first resident pastor (1914)
Faith Formation and CCD
Religious education for the cluster is centered at St. Bernard in Osceola, but children of St. Joseph families participate. The CCD program offers K–6th-grade classes (Wednesdays, 6:30–7:30 p.m.), 7th–8th-grade classes (Sundays, 6:30–8:00 p.m.), and Confirmation classes (Sundays, 6:30–8:00 p.m.). In the 1970s and again in later decades, St. Joseph has used its parish hall for CCD and confirmation instruction, including a mobile unit purchased from the Mount Ayr Community School that was connected to the church by an enclosed passageway and used for classes and parish functions.
- K–6 CCD classes: Wednesdays 6:30–7:30 p.m.
- 7th–8th CCD classes: Sundays 6:30–8:00 p.m.
- Confirmation classes: Sundays 6:30–8:00 p.m.
- RE Director: 641-414-0995
Joining the Parish
Anyone interested in registering at St. Joseph can (1) fill out the online registration form on the parish website, (2) download the registration form, print and mail it to 222 E. Pearl Street, Osceola, IA 50213, or (3) email a scanned copy to [email protected], or schedule to drop it off with the parish secretary by calling (641) 342-2850.
- Online form on stbernardiowa.wixsite.com/website
- Mail: 222 E. Pearl St., Osceola, IA 50213
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: (641) 342-2850
Contact and Directions
St. Joseph Catholic Church is at 100 North Polk Street in Mount Ayr, IA 50854. The mailing address for parish correspondence is the cluster office at 222 E. Pearl Street, Osceola, IA 50213. To reach the parish by phone, call (641) 464-2826 (church) or (641) 342-2850 (cluster office); the parish email is [email protected]. The church sits four blocks north of Hwy. 2 on Polk Street.
- Church address: 100 N. Polk St., Mount Ayr, IA 50854
- Mailing address: 222 E. Pearl St., Osceola, IA 50213
- Phone (church): (641) 464-2826
- Phone (office): (641) 342-2850
- Email: [email protected]
- Father Tomson's direct line: 480-410-7978
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father F. Burkheiser1914 onward
First resident pastor of St. Joseph's in Mount Ayr after the 1914 dedication; also had charge of St. Joseph's missions in Kellerton, Leon and Grand River.
- Father David Polich1990s
Assigned by Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines effective in the 1990s to serve St. Bernard (Osceola), St. Patrick (Grand River) and St. Joseph (Mt. Ayr) jointly.
- Father Tomson Thomascurrent
Current pastor of the three-parish cluster of St. Bernard (Osceola), St. Joseph (Mt. Ayr) and St. Patrick (Grand River).