About St. Isidore the Farmer · Orange Cove, California
St. Isidore the Farmer is a Roman Catholic parish in the small rural community of Orange Cove, California, in the Diocese of Fresno. The parish was established on January 23, 1978 by Bishop Hugh A. Donahoe under the direction of its first pastor, Rev. Joseph F. Lipke. Located near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada about 45 minutes southeast of Fresno, the parish serves a community of roughly 500 families, the majority of whom are Hispanic and work in agriculture or farm-related enterprises. The parish is named for Saint Isidore the Farmer, the 12th-century Spanish farm laborer who is the patron saint of farmers and rural workers.
- Established
- 1978
- Patron
- St. Isidore the Farmer
- Diocese
- Diocese of Fresno
Why belong here
St. Isidore the Farmer is a warm, Spanish-speaking Catholic community rooted in the agricultural life of Orange Cove and named for the patron saint of farmers. With three Sunday Masses and weekday Masses offered in Spanish, daily opportunities for confession, weekly Eucharistic Adoration, and the ministry of diocesan priests to St. Rita Mission in Squaw Valley, the parish offers a rich sacramental life for farm-working families in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Mass times at St. Isidore the Farmer
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Tuesday 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM
- Thursday 7:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Adoration times
- Friday 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
History of St. Isidore the Farmer Parish
St. Isidore the Farmer Parish was established on January 23, 1978 by Bishop Hugh A. Donahoe, Bishop of Fresno, who entrusted the new foundation to its first pastor, Rev. Joseph F. Lipke. The parish was created to serve the small agricultural town of Orange Cove in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, roughly 45 minutes southeast of Fresno. From the start, the community has been composed mainly of farm workers and farm-business entrepreneurs, most of them Hispanic, and today it encompasses approximately 500 families.
- Established January 23, 1978 by Bishop Hugh A. Donahoe, Bishop of Fresno
- Founding pastor: Rev. Joseph F. Lipke
- Roughly 500 families, largely Hispanic farm-working community
- Located in Orange Cove, CA near the Sierra Nevada foothills, southeast of Fresno
Diocese and Vicariate
St. Isidore the Farmer is a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno and is grouped within the diocese's vicariate structure alongside neighboring parishes such as Holy Family (Kingsburg) and Our Lady of Sorrows (Parlier). The parish falls under the pastoral oversight of the Bishop of Fresno and is listed among the diocese's rural and small-town communities in the Central Valley.
- Diocese: Diocese of Fresno
- Part of the Kingsburg-area cluster of diocesan parishes
- Listed on the official Diocese of Fresno vicariates page
St. Rita Mission (Squaw Valley)
Since 1980, the priests of St. Isidore the Farmer have also attended to St. Rita Mission, which serves in part the Miwok community in Squaw Valley, California. Diocesan records from Marquette University's archives note sacramental registers held at the parish for Native American parishioners of St. Rita Mission dating from 1980 onward.
- St. Rita Mission, Squaw Valley — supervised by St. Isidore the Farmer since 1980
- Sacramental records for the mission's Native American parishioners kept at the parish
- Miwok community (in part) served by the mission
Visit, Contact, and Connect
Parishioners and visitors can find St. Isidore the Farmer in the small town of Orange Cove, CA. The parish maintains an active presence on Facebook and a WordPress-hosted site with the most current parish information, while the Diocese of Fresno and Catholic directory listings carry its address and phone number.
- Address: 480 Adams Ave., Orange Cove, CA 93646
- Phone: (559) 626-4943
- Official website: https://stisidoreoc.wordpress.com/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/stisidoreoc/
- Listed by the Diocese of Fresno and GCatholic (ID 21484)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Joseph F. Lipke1978–
First pastor; directed by Bishop Hugh A. Donahoe to establish the parish in Orange Cove on January 23, 1978.