About St. Boniface · Wimbledon, North Dakota
St. Boniface Catholic Church is a small Roman Catholic parish in Wimbledon, a farming community in Barnes County in central North Dakota. It belongs to the Diocese of Fargo and is currently served as part of a tri-parishes cluster alongside St. Mary's in Dazey and Sacred Heart in Sanborn by a single pastor, Rev. Sean P. Mulligan. The parish traces its origins to German Catholic settlers who built their first wooden church in 1886 and later moved it — jacks, rollers and horse power — to its present site on the highest ground north of the Wimbledon town plat in 1895. Today's striking red-brick Gothic church, with its landmark spire visible from the surrounding prairie, dates from 1908 and remains the spiritual home of the rural Catholic families scattered across this stretch of North Dakota.
- Established
- 1886
- Patron
- St. Boniface (Winfrid / Wynfrith), Bishop and Martyr, Apostle of the Germans
- Rector
- Rev. Sean P. Mulligan
- Diocese
- Diocese of Fargo
Why belong here
St. Boniface is a small, tight-knit rural parish where the Catholic families of Wimbledon and surrounding Barnes County farms gather around the altar in a landmark 1908 Gothic brick church with its tall spire visible for miles across the prairie. Worshippers are cared for by a single dedicated priest who also shepherds the neighboring parishes at Dazey and Sanborn, making daily and Sunday Mass, regular confessions and Eucharistic Adoration reliably available in this part of central North Dakota. It is the kind of parish where everyone knows each other, where German Catholic heritage is part of the identity, and where visitors are welcomed into the rhythms of a faith community rooted in the land.
Mass times at St. Boniface
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 8:00 AM – 8:45 AM (January–April)
- Sunday 12:10 PM – 1:10 PM (September–December)
- Saturday 6:00 PM – 6:45 PM (May–August)
- Wednesday 4:45 PM – 5:00 PM
- Thursday 11:30 AM – 11:45 AM
- Friday 11:30 AM – 11:45 AM
Adoration times
- Sunday 7:00 AM – 8:50 AM (January–April)
- Saturday 5:00 PM – 6:50 PM (May–August)
- Wednesday 2:00 PM – 5:10 PM
- Thursday 10:30 AM – 11:50 AM
History of St. Boniface Parish
St. Boniface traces its roots to 1886, when German Catholic homesteaders erected a wooden church at Durupt, a settlement five miles south of present-day Wimbledon that no longer exists. When the Soo Line Railroad survey and the 1892 platting of Wimbledon made it clear that the new town would be the area's center, the German Catholic community physically relocated their church in 1895 — jacking it up, setting it on rollers and dragging it by horse power to the highest point just north of the town plat. That dedication to St. Boniface, the 'Apostle of the Germans,' still marks the parish's German ethnic and religious origins.
- 1886: First wooden church erected at Durupt
- 1895: Church moved by jacks, rollers and horses to its current hilltop site north of the Wimbledon town plat
- 1907: Original wooden church destroyed by fire during construction of an adjacent priest's house
- 1908: Present Gothic red-brick church built to designs by architect G. R. Clausen
The 1908 Gothic Brick Church
Replacing the wooden church lost in the 1907 fire, the present St. Boniface church was designed by architect G. R. Clausen and built in 1908. It is an impressive Gothic Revival edifice of bright red brick with stone detailing, set on the highest ground north of the original town plat. Its central west-front tower and tall spire have served as Wimbledon's prairie landmark ever since, and the structure is described in detailed architectural terms on the Wikipedia article for Wimbledon, North Dakota, including the five-bay nave, the three-sided apse, the steeply pitched roof, the large pointed two-light-tracery windows separated by stepped buttresses, and the characteristic little floating arcades of Gothic arches in brick ornamenting the upper tower and rooflines.
- Architect: G. R. Clausen
- Style: Gothic Revival
- Materials: bright red brick with stone detailing
- Nave: five bays, no aisles; sanctuary one bay; three-sided apse
- Tower: three-storey central tower with entrance porch, large Gothic window and louvered bell chamber
- Spire: tall landmark spire flanked by four corner pinnacles
Parish Cluster with Dazey and Sanborn
St. Boniface is now organized together with two neighboring rural parishes as the Tri-Parishes Cluster of St. Boniface (Wimbledon), St. Mary's (Dazey) and Sacred Heart (Sanborn). All three parishes are served by a single priest — currently Rev. Sean P. Mulligan — a configuration typical across the Diocese of Fargo for keeping daily and Sunday Mass, Confession and Eucharistic Adoration available across the small agricultural communities of central North Dakota. The diocesan announcement in 2024 formalized this cluster and reappointed Father Mulligan to a second six-year term as pastor of all three parishes beginning June 26, 2024.
- St. Boniface, Wimbledon
- St. Mary's, Dazey
- Sacred Heart, Sanborn
- Cluster pastor: Rev. Sean P. Mulligan
Parish Staff and Clergy
St. Boniface is currently served by one priest, who serves the three-church cluster. Bishop John T. Folda of the Diocese of Fargo formally appointed Rev. Sean P. Mulligan to a second six-year term as pastor of St. Boniface (Wimbledon), St. Mary's (Dazey) and Sacred Heart (Sanborn) effective June 26, 2024.
- Pastor: Rev. Sean P. Mulligan
- Diocese: Fargo (Bishop John T. Folda)
- Parish office phone: (701) 435-2310
Patron: St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
The parish takes its name from St. Boniface (c. 675–754), an English Benedictine monk from Exeter who became the great missionary 'Apostle of the Germans.' Consecrated bishop by Pope Gregory II in 722, he evangelized Hesse, Saxony and Thuringia, was made Archbishop of Mainz, founded the abbey of Fulda, and was martyred by pagans at Dokkum in 754 while administering confirmation. His memorial in the Roman liturgical calendar is celebrated on June 5, and his patronage includes Germany, England and the archdiocese of Saint-Boniface in Manitoba, Canada. The dedication reflects the German heritage of Wimbledon's founding Catholic settlers.
- Memorial: June 5 (Bishop and Martyr)
- Patron of Germany, England and the archdiocese of Saint-Boniface, Manitoba
- Symbols: axe (the implement of his martyrdom), Gospel book
Visiting and Contact
St. Boniface Catholic Church sits in Wimbledon, North Dakota, at the corner of 1st and 4th Avenues off 3rd Avenue — the same thoroughfare as the Soo Line railroad grade crossing and Wimbledon's historic main drag. The parish office phone line is shared across the cluster and can be used to confirm Mass, Confession and Adoration times, which adjust seasonally for the farming community.
- Address: 401 3rd Ave., Wimbledon, ND 58492 (church at corner of 1st & 4th Avenues; rectory/parish office variously listed at 301/302 1st Ave.)
- Phone: (701) 435-2310
- Diocesan listing: http://fargodiocese.net/wimbledon-stboniface
- Cluster website: https://barnescountycatholic.org/
- Landmark: tall central spire visible from the surrounding prairie
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. John Ejike
Listed as pastor on third-party church directory pages prior to the current assignment.
- Rev. Sean P. MulliganReappointed June 26, 2024 (second six-year term)
Pastor of the tri-parishes cluster: St. Boniface (Wimbledon), St. Mary (Dazey) and Sacred Heart (Sanborn).