About St. John / Blessed Trinity Cluster · Delhi, Iowa
St. John's Catholic Church is a small parish located at 307 South Street in Delhi, Iowa, and is part of the Blessed Trinity Cluster of Catholic parishes serving the greater Manchester, Iowa area in Delaware County. As a member parish of the cluster — alongside Immaculate Conception of Masonville, St. Patrick of Ryan, and the cluster's anchor parish of St. Mary in Manchester — St. John shares pastoral staff, faith-formation resources, and a rotating Sunday Mass schedule. The parish is administered under the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque and is led, with the cluster parishes, by a priest of the Archdiocese.
- Established
- circa 1912 (incorporated February 10, 1912; current church building erected late 1914)
- Patron
- St. John (the Evangelist or the Baptist)
- Rector
- Rev. Gabriel C. Anderson (assigned to St. John, Delhi together with St. Mary Manchester, Immaculate Conception Masonville, and St. Patrick Ryan)
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque
Why belong here
St. John's offers the small-town Catholic life that drew Iowa families together for over a century: a simple, historic church on South Street in Delhi, a rotation that brings the cluster's faithful together for Sunday worship, and the shared pastoral care of the Blessed Trinity Cluster. Joining means participating in a tri-township Catholic community — Delhi, Masonville and Ryan — that pools its resources for stewardship, faith formation, and the celebration of the sacraments across rural Delaware County.
Mass times at St. John / Blessed Trinity Cluster
Weekly Mass schedule
About St. John Parish, Delhi
St. John is a small Catholic parish located at 307 South Street in the town of Delhi, Delaware County, Iowa. It is part of the Blessed Trinity Cluster, which links St. John with three neighboring rural parishes — Immaculate Conception of Masonville, St. Patrick of Ryan, and the cluster's anchor parish of St. Mary in Manchester. The parish shares one pastor, one business office, and a cluster-wide approach to faith formation, stewardship, and worship with those sister communities.
- Parish seat: 307 South Street, Delhi, IA 52223
- Cluster office: 119 West Fayette Street, Manchester, IA 52057
- Phone (cluster office): (563) 927-4710
- Business Manager: Ashley Jasper
History
Catholic life in the Delhi area goes back at least to the 1860s, when local believers worshipped in the old Methodist Episcopal schoolhouse, according to the published History of Delaware County. The parish was formally incorporated under Iowa law on February 10, 1912 as St. John Church, Delhi, Iowa (entity number 80882), with its seat at 307 South Street. Late in 1914, under the direction of Father Rooney (pastor of the Manchester church), a new church building was completed in Delhi at a cost of roughly $10,000 — the building the parish still uses today. In the modern era the parish was linked in 1997 with St. Luke of Hopkinton, and is now a member of the Blessed Trinity Cluster of parishes.
- Earliest Masses: celebrated in the old Methodist Episcopal schoolhouse
- Parish incorporated: February 10, 1912
- Current church building completed: late 1914
- Builder / director: Father Rooney, then pastor of the Manchester church
- Cost of the 1914 building: approximately $10,000
- 1997: linked with St. Luke Parish, Hopkinton
- Today: part of the Blessed Trinity Cluster (Manchester)
Cluster Mission & Identity
The Blessed Trinity Cluster's published mission is to 'form a welcoming trinity of Catholic communities to unite parishioners in joyful stewardship through sharing our resources to create a strong Christian experience proclaiming God's word.' St. John, along with its three sister parishes, embraces that vision of shared ministry, shared clergy, and shared stewardship across rural Delaware County.
- Blessed Trinity Cluster Mission Statement: a welcoming trinity of Catholic communities united in joyful stewardship
- St. John Mission: implied through cluster mission; the parish participates in shared resources across the cluster
Clergy & Staff
St. John is pastored together with the other three parishes of the Blessed Trinity Cluster by a single priest assigned by the Archdiocese of Dubuque. The Archdiocese of Dubuque's active priests roster lists Rev. Gabriel C. Anderson as the priest assigned to St. John, Delhi, together with St. Mary (Manchester), Immaculate Conception (Masonville), and St. Patrick (Ryan). The cluster's lay business operations are managed by Business Manager Ashley Jasper.
- Pastor: Rev. Gabriel C. Anderson
- Business Manager: Ashley Jasper
- Cluster office phone: (563) 927-4710
St. John's Cemetery
Alongside the parish itself, a separate non-profit entity — St. John's Cemetery of Delhi, Iowa — is associated with the parish and continues to serve as a burial ground for its members and the surrounding Catholic community. The cemetery has its own Iowa corporation registration and is governed together with the parish.
- Separate Iowa non-profit: St. John's Cemetery of Delhi, Iowa
- Maintained alongside the parish for members' burials
Visiting & Contact
The parish's street address in Delhi is 307 South Street, Delhi, IA 52223. The central cluster office, which handles inquiries for St. John and its sister parishes, is at 119 West Fayette Street, Manchester, IA 52057 and can be reached at (563) 927-4710. Because the 9:30 AM Sunday Mass rotates among three parishes in the cluster, visitors should check the Blessed Trinity Cluster website (blessedtrinitycluster.com/st-john) before traveling to confirm which community is hosting that Sunday.
- Parish address: 307 South Street, Delhi, IA 52223
- Cluster office: 119 West Fayette Street, Manchester, IA 52057
- Phone: (563) 927-4710
- Web: blessedtrinitycluster.com/st-john
- Tip: confirm Sunday host parish on the cluster website each week
Diocese & Wider Church
St. John Parish belongs to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque, one of the oldest Catholic jurisdictions in the upper Midwest. The Archdiocese lists the parish among its active assignments, and publishes the names of its active priests — including the priest currently serving the Blessed Trinity Cluster — on the official dbqarch.org website.
- Diocese: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Dubuque
- Diocesan website: dbqarch.org
- Cluster website: blessedtrinitycluster.com
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Rooneyuntil at least late 1914
Pastor of the Manchester Church who directed construction of the present St. John church building in Delhi, completed late in 1914 at a cost of about $10,000.