About St. John Mission · De Mossville, Kentucky
St. John Mission (historically known as St. John's Dromard) is a small Catholic mission church in Dividing Ridge, near De Mossville, in rural Pendleton County, Kentucky. Founded in 1856 by eight Irish immigrant families, it is one of the smallest churches in the Diocese of Covington, with just twelve pews and a single regular Sunday Mass. The mission is served by the pastor of nearby St. William Parish in Williamstown, currently Rev. Benton M. Clift, Sr., and shares its phone number, website (saint-william.org), and parish life with that parish. Set on the highest point in Pendleton County overlooking the farms of its founders' descendants, the little white church remains a vibrant worshipping community and a living monument to the faith of those 19th-century Irish settlers.
- Established
- 1856
- Patron
- St. John the Evangelist (parish founded in his honor as "St. John's Dromard")
- Rector
- Rev. Benton M. Clift, Sr.
- Diocese
- Diocese of Covington
Why belong here
St. John Mission offers a rare thing in modern American Catholicism: an intimate, walk-up country church where Mass is celebrated just once a week, in a sanctuary of only twelve pews, perched on the highest ridge in Pendleton County. Worshipping here connects you directly to the faith of eight Irish immigrant families who literally built the church before they built their own homes, and whose descendants still fill its pews three generations later. The parish shares its life and pastor with St. William in nearby Williamstown, so you get the warmth of a small rural mission supported by a larger neighboring parish, a restored steeple and chimes that ring out across the ridge every Sunday, and a Catholic community whose persistence — through times when there was no priest and no Mass at all — is itself a witness worth joining.
Mass times at St. John Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Wednesday 11:15 AM – 11:45 AM (following the 10:30 AM Mass, first Wednesday of each month); also available upon request — contact Fr. Benton Clift
St. John Mission — A Little Church on the Ridge
St. John Mission is the smallest and one of the most historic Catholic churches in the Diocese of Covington. Perched on the highest point in Pendleton County, Kentucky, the white frame church with its restored steeple and chimes remains what it has been since 1856: a country chapel built by Irish immigrant families and tended by their descendants.
- One of the smallest churches in the Diocese of Covington — only twelve pews
- One regular Sunday Mass
- Served by the pastor of St. William Parish, Williamstown
History & Founding
Founded in 1856 by eight Irish immigrant families — James Donehue, John Cahill, Francis (Frank) Kelly, William McLafferty, Michael Powers, Edward Moran, Michael Lowers, and Patrick Hogan — the mission was built on land the founders cleared themselves with mules and by hand, while still living in log cabins. They built the church before they built proper homes for themselves, a fact still quoted by descendants today as evidence of their extraordinary faith in Providence.
- Cornerstone dated 1856, though the community had gathered for years before
- Original name 'St. John's Dromard' — from the Irish dromard, 'high place'
- Sits on the highest point in Pendleton County
- Father J.J. Taaffe wrote a 'History of the Church' in 1919
- After Father Taaffe's death there were periods with no resident pastor and no Sunday Mass
The 2020 Steeple & Roof Restoration
In late 2018 a third-generation descendant of one of the founding families initiated a project to restore the steeple, which had fallen in the 1970s and never been replaced. The plan grew to include a new roof once the existing one was found unsound. With approval from the parish council and then-Bishop of Covington Roger J. Foys, architect Garlan Vanhook of Vanhook Architectural designed the new steeple from photographs and diagrams of the original. It was installed on October 20, 2020, and the chimes were restored so the steeple can once again ring out across the ridge on Sunday mornings.
- Steeple fell in the 1970s, unreplaced for nearly 50 years
- Project funded by 32 donors across three generations of five of the eight founding families
- Designed by Garlan Vanhook, Vanhook Architectural
- Installed October 20, 2020
- Chimes restored for Sunday Mass
Clergy & Pastoral Care
The mission is served by the pastor of St. William Parish, Williamstown, who ministers to both communities. The parish directory and the 2025 Diocese of Covington directory list Rev. Benton M. Clift, Sr. as pastor of St. William Parish with the concurrent assignment to St. John Mission, Dividing Ridge. He was appointed in the summer of 2020.
- Rev. Benton M. Clift, Sr. — Pastor (St. William Parish / St. John Mission)
- Ordained May 19, 2018
- Office: (859) 824-5381
Parish Life & Ministries
Although tiny in numbers, St. John has an active parish council and a deep tradition of family stewardship. The mission shares its broader liturgical and formation life with St. William Parish in Williamstown — including a music ministry under Lorie Flerlage that recently added bilingual (Spanish/English) missals to welcome a growing Hispanic population, supported by an Oregon Catholic Press grant.
- Parish Council — oversees mission life and the 2020 restoration project
- Founding-family stewardship — descendants of five of the eight original families continue to support and care for the mission
- Shared music ministry with St. William Parish
- Bilingual (Spanish/English) missals, supported by an OCP grant
Visiting & Contact
St. John Mission shares its contact information, mailing address, and website with St. William Parish, Williamstown. Visitors are warmly welcomed — call ahead for directions, current schedules, or to request the Sacrament of Anointing or Confession.
- Address: 834 Center Ridge Road (Hwy 3184), De Mossville, KY 41033
- Phone: (859) 824-5381
- Website: http://saint-william.org/
- Diocese: Diocese of Covington (South West Deanery)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father J.J. Taaffeby 1919
Pastor who in 1919 wrote a short 'History of the Church' documenting the mission's early decades and its every-other-Sunday Mass schedule at that time.