About St. Ann · Riverdale, California
St. Ann is a Roman Catholic parish serving the small agricultural community of Riverdale in Kings County, in California's San Joaquin Valley. Founded in 1928 to minister to Portuguese immigrants who had settled in the area, the parish remains part of the Diocese of Fresno today and operates as a bilingual (English/Spanish) community. The current church building on West Mount Whitney Avenue was dedicated in 1949, and the parish also oversees the Mission Church of Holy Family at Five Points, where an additional Saturday Mass in Spanish is celebrated.
- Established
- 1928
- Patron
- St. Ann (Saint Anne)
- Rector
- Rev. Daniel Avila (Administrator)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Fresno (Kings Vicariate)
Why belong here
St. Ann offers a small, welcoming, bilingual parish home where Riverdale-area families can worship close to home without driving to the larger towns of Hanford or Lemoore. The parish combines traditional Catholic devotions — weekly Eucharistic Adoration, regular Confession, and Mass celebrated both in English and Spanish — with the close-knit character of a rural farming community, and it extends its reach by caring for the Mission Church of Holy Family at nearby Five Points. For Portuguese-American descendants of the original 1928 founders as well as newer Hispanic parishioners, St. Ann is a steady, familiar place of prayer in western Kings County.
Mass times at St. Ann
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Thursday 5:30 PM (every other week; alternates with Our Lady of Fatima — check bulletin)
- Or by appointment
Adoration times
- Monday 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
About St. Ann Parish
St. Ann is a Roman Catholic parish in the small farming town of Riverdale, California, in the western part of Kings County in the San Joaquin Valley. The parish belongs to the Diocese of Fresno and is part of the diocese's Kings Vicariate. It is a bilingual community that celebrates Mass in both English and Spanish and is rooted in the rural agricultural life of the region.
- Founded in 1928 for Portuguese immigrants
- Church dedicated in 1949
- Diocese of Fresno — Kings Vicariate
- Bilingual: English and Spanish
History of St. Ann
The parish was established in 1928 to serve the Portuguese immigrant families who had settled in and around Riverdale to farm and work in the local dairies. For roughly two decades the community worshipped in temporary quarters until the current church on West Mount Whitney Avenue was built and dedicated in 1949. Over the generations, as the demographics of Kings County shifted, the parish welcomed the Hispanic families who now make up a large share of the local Catholic population and adopted a bilingual schedule of Masses.
- 1928 — parish founded for Portuguese immigrants
- 1949 — present church dedicated on West Mount Whitney Avenue
- Now serves both Portuguese-American descendants and Hispanic families in Riverdale
Holy Family Mission at Five Points
St. Ann Parish also shepherds the Mission Church of Holy Family at nearby Five Points, a small rural community a few miles east of Riverdale. A Spanish-language Mass is celebrated at the mission on Saturday evenings at 6:00 PM, extending the parish's pastoral reach into the surrounding farmland.
- Saturday 6:00 PM Mass in Spanish at Holy Family, Five Points
Pastor and Leadership
The parish is currently led by Rev. Daniel Avila, who serves as Administrator. Father Avila is also active in the wider life of the Diocese of Fresno and as State Chaplain of the California Knights of Columbus. The parish falls within the Kings Vicariate of the Diocese of Fresno, led by Vicar Forane Rev. Michael Moore, V.F.
- Administrator: Rev. Daniel Avila
- Vicariate Forane (Kings Vicariate): Rev. Michael Moore, V.F.
Sacraments
Beyond the Mass schedule, St. Ann prepares parishioners for the Sacraments of Christian initiation and ongoing Catholic life. Confession is scheduled on alternate Thursday evenings or by appointment; parishioners should contact the parish office to arrange baptisms, marriages, First Communion and Confirmation preparation, Anointing of the Sick, and other sacramental needs.
- Baptism — contact the parish office
- Marriage — contact the parish office for preparation
- Anointing of the Sick — by request
- Reconciliation — Thursday 5:30 PM (alternate weeks) or by appointment
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Antonio Camacho1989
Parochial Vicar at St. Ann, Riverdale and St. Peter Prince of Apostles, Lemoore (returned to Mexico in 1990).
- Rev. Jose Luis Vega Sanchez1990
Parochial Vicar at St. Ann, Riverdale and St. Peter Prince of Apostles, Lemoore (later Pastor of St. Mary, Cutler).