About Saint Joseph · Pond Creek, Oklahoma
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Pond Creek, Oklahoma, is a small Roman Catholic mission parish serving the farming community of Pond Creek in Grant County in north-central Oklahoma. It is one of the historic Catholic congregations established in the region shortly after the Land Run of 1893, and today it functions as a mission of St. Mary Parish in Medford under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. The parish continues the sacramental life begun more than 125 years ago when Catholic settlers gathered for Mass in the newly opened Cherokee Outlet.
- Established
- 1896 (frame church erected); formally dedicated May 25, 1898
- Patron
- Saint Joseph
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
Why belong here
St. Joseph in Pond Creek offers rural north-central Oklahoma Catholics a continuing connection to the sacramental and community life first established by homesteading Catholic families in 1896. As a mission of St. Mary Parish in Medford, it shares priests and pastoral care with the wider Grant County Catholic community while maintaining its own weekly worship and identity on Highway 81 in Pond Creek. Visitors and parishioners will find a small, historic parish rooted in over 125 years of faith in the Cherokee Outlet.
Mass times at Saint Joseph
Weekly Mass schedule
History of St. Joseph Parish
St. Joseph Catholic Church traces its beginnings to the settlement of the Cherokee Outlet in the 1890s. Father Beck, pastor of nearby Hennessey, organized Catholic families in Pond Creek and Jefferson, and they erected a frame church building in 1896. Rev. Renier Sevens became the first resident pastor in 1897, and on May 25, 1898, the church was formally dedicated with St. Joseph as its patron. The original frame building was moved in 1900 from Block 28 to its present Block 58 location, where a larger brick church was later constructed and dedicated by Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness on December 16, 1949. A new rectory was completed in the summer of 1955.
- 1896 — Frame church erected through efforts of Father Beck and local Catholic families
- 1897 — Rev. Renier (R.) Sevens appointed first resident pastor
- May 25, 1898 — Church dedicated under the patronage of St. Joseph
- 1900 — Frame church relocated to current site in Block 58
- December 16, 1949 — New church dedicated by Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness ($46,000)
- Summer 1955 — New rectory completed
Founding Pastor and Pioneer Connections
The parish's first resident pastor, Rev. Renier Sevens, was a central figure in the establishment of Catholic life across north-central Oklahoma in the late nineteenth century. From Pond Creek, he traveled by team and buggy to help found SS. Peter and Paul Church in Manchester in 1898 and to assist with the building of St. Mary's in 1897. One of the laypeople present at St. Joseph's 1898 dedication, J. F. McGuire, eventually went on to seminary formation at St. Mary's, Kansas, and the American College of Louvain, was ordained in 1905, and rose to become Monsignor McGuire.
- Rev. Renier Sevens — first resident pastor (1897); also founded SS. Peter and Paul (Manchester, 1898) and assisted with St. Mary's (1897)
- J. F. McGuire — Grant County clerk at the 1898 dedication; later ordained in 1905 as Monsignor McGuire
Affiliation: Mission of St. Mary, Medford
Today St. Joseph Parish in Pond Creek operates as a mission of St. Mary Church in Medford under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. The two parishes share pastoral care and a single parish office phone number ((580) 395-2148). The parish is grouped with another mission, St. Mary Assumption in Wakita, forming a small cluster of rural Catholic communities in Grant County.
- Parent parish: St. Mary, Medford (214 W. Cherokee St., Medford, OK 73759)
- Sister mission: St. Mary Assumption, Wakita
- Diocese: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
- Shared parish phone: (580) 395-2148
The 1949 Church Building and 1955 Rectory
The present St. Joseph church building stands on the lots just south of the parish's original 1896 frame structure, which was moved to the Block 58 location in 1900. Construction of the new church cost $46,000, a remarkable sum for a small rural congregation at the time, and was financed and dedicated during the episcopate of Bishop Eugene J. McGuinness of Oklahoma City and Tulsa. A new parish rectory followed in 1955 to house the resident clergy who served the mission.
- Dedication: December 16, 1949
- Officiant: Most Reverend Eugene J. McGuinness
- Construction cost: $46,000
- New rectory completed: summer 1955
- Original 1896 frame church relocated to Block 58 in 1900
Visiting St. Joseph Parish
St. Joseph is located on Highway 81 in Pond Creek, Oklahoma, the small Grant County seat community north of Enid. As a rural mission, it shares its parish office and phone line with St. Mary in Medford. Visitors and parishioners seeking sacraments beyond the Saturday vigil Mass are typically directed to the parent parish or to other parishes in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's parish finder network.
- Address: Highway 81, Pond Creek, OK 73766
- Phone: (580) 395-2148 (St. Mary, Medford parish office)
- Archdiocesan parish finder: archokc.org/parishfinder
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Beck1896–1897
Pastor of Hennessey; initiated the movement among Catholic families of Pond Creek and Jefferson that led to the building of the original frame church in 1896. Not a resident pastor of Pond Creek.
- Rev. Renier (R.) Sevens1897–
First resident pastor of St. Joseph, Pond Creek. Oversaw the formal dedication of the church under the patronage of St. Joseph on May 25, 1898, and also built SS. Peter and Paul in Manchester (1898) and the original St. Mary's church in 1897.