About St. Joseph · Ball Club, Minnesota
St. Joseph Catholic Church is a small rural parish in Ball Club, Minnesota, in the lake-country woodlands of northern Itasca County near Lake Winnibigoshish. It is one of three parishes in a cluster served by a single pastor: St. Joseph in Ball Club, St. Charles in Cass Lake, and St. Mary in Deer River (the main church and parish office). The parish belongs to the Diocese of Duluth and gathers its faithful for a Saturday Vigil Mass, with confession and Eucharistic Adoration preceding the liturgy. With deep roots reaching back to the early 1900s and the early Catholic mission to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe at Ball Club, St. Joseph continues to maintain a Catholic presence in this remote community.
- Established
- 1906
- Patron
- St. Joseph
- Rector
- Fr. Kuriakose Nediakala, M.C.B.S. (Fr. KK)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Duluth
Why belong here
St. Joseph is a faithful little Catholic outpost on the edge of Itasca County's lake country — a place where the Catholic mission to the Leech Lake Ojibwe community has been kept alive for more than a century. Parishioners gather Saturday evenings for the Vigil Mass, with confession and Eucharistic Adoration beforehand, and share pastoral care, faith formation, and the sacraments with sister parishes St. Mary's in Deer River and St. Charles in Cass Lake. Visiting or joining means joining a tight-knit, mission-rooted community that still serves both Native and non-Native families of the area, supported by the Knights of Columbus and online giving through WeShare.
Mass times at St. Joseph
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 4:30 PM (immediately before the 5:00 PM Vigil Mass)
- Saturday 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM (per directory listings; please confirm with parish office)
Adoration times
- Saturday 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM (per directory listings)
About St. Joseph Catholic Church
St. Joseph is a small rural Catholic parish serving the community of Ball Club, Minnesota, in Itasca County's lake country near Lake Winnibigoshish. It is a member of a three-parish cluster within the Diocese of Duluth, sharing a pastor with St. Mary's in Deer River (the main church and parish office) and St. Charles in Cass Lake. The parish gathers every Saturday evening for the Vigil Mass, with confession and Eucharistic Adoration preceding the liturgy.
- Type: Roman-Latin rite Catholic parish (Church)
- Diocese: Diocese of Duluth (Bishop Daniel Felton)
- Cluster partner parishes: St. Mary's, Deer River; St. Charles, Cass Lake
- Address: 51061 Wolf Drive, Ball Club, MN 56636
History
Catholic missionary activity at Ball Cluster began around 1900, when Benedictine priests from Red Lake and White Earth began serving the Leech Lake settlements. Fr. Simon Lampe, O.S.B. built the original log church at Ball Club in 1906 at a cost of $400, plus a $60 church bell. Father Felix Nellis, O.S.B., who took charge of Leech Lake in 1903, traveled to Ball Cluster by train around 1908, where parishioners would meet him with cutter and sled to reach scattered homesteads. As the community grew, the log house became too small, and in 1912–1914 the congregation built St. Joseph–St. Mary's Catholic Church — a plastered building that doubled as a community meeting hall. Throughout the twentieth century, both Native and white families participated in parish life through the St. Joseph's Society, the St. Mary's Society, and the parish's other organizations.
- 1906 — log church built by Fr. Simon Lampe, O.S.B.
- Around 1908 — Fr. Felix Nellis, O.S.B. begins regular visits
- 1912–1914 — St. Joseph–St. Mary's Church built; community works together to plaster walls
- 20th century — parish joins a cluster with St. Mary's (Deer River) and St. Charles (Cass Lake)
Clergy & Parish Staff
The cluster is currently served by Fr. Kuriakose Nediakala, M.C.B.S., a member of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, known affectionately as 'Father KK'. Parish office staff at St. Mary's in Deer River support all three parishes in the cluster, including St. Joseph.
- Fr. Kuriakose Nediakala, M.C.B.S. (Fr. KK) — Pastor
- Rick Norris — listed on parish staff page
- Kathy Gullickson — Secretary / Bulletin Coordinator
- Liann Bommersbach — Bookkeeper
- Director of Religious Education (cluster-wide, name not listed online)
Faith Formation & Religious Education
Religious education for the cluster is coordinated through a Director of Religious Education who serves all three parishes — St. Mary (Deer River), St. Joseph (Ball Club), and St. Charles (Cass Lake).
- Director of Religious Education (cluster-wide)
- Sacramental preparation available through the cluster
- Confession and Adoration opportunities for children and families before Saturday Mass
Ministries & Organizations
St. Joseph parishioners take part in a mix of parish, cluster, and community organizations — including a longstanding Knights of Columbus council, parish societies with deep historical roots, and newer prayer apostolates.
- Knights of Columbus Council 2840 — assigned to St. Joseph, Ball Club
- Seven Sisters Apostolate — being established in the cluster; women commit to one Holy Hour per week for Father KK
- St. Joseph's Society — historical parish society
- WeShare — secure online giving platform for the cluster
Sacraments
St. Joseph offers the central liturgical sacraments as part of a small but devoted Catholic community. Confession and Adoration are scheduled before the Saturday Vigil Mass.
- Holy Mass — Saturday Vigil at 5:00 PM
- Confession (Sacrament of Reconciliation) — Saturday afternoon
- Eucharistic Adoration — Saturday afternoon
- Faith formation / preparation for the other sacraments — coordinated cluster-wide
Cluster & Parish Office
St. Joseph is administered jointly with two sister parishes in the Diocese of Duluth: St. Mary's in Deer River (the main church and parish office) and St. Charles in Cass Lake. The cluster shares one pastor and one parish office.
- Parish office location: 105 1st St NE, PO Box 98, Deer River, MN 56636
- Parish office phone: (218) 246-8582
- Parish office email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Monday closed; Tuesday–Friday 9:00 AM – 12:00 noon
- Cluster website: http://www.deerrivercatholic.com
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Simon Lampe, O.S.B.1906
Built the original log church at Ball Club in 1906.
- Fr. Felix Nellis, O.S.B.from 1903
Benedictine priest who took charge of Leech Lake and attended Ball Club, Bena, and Cass Lake; traveled to Ball Club by train around 1908.
- Fr. Kuriakose Nediakala, M.C.B.S. (Fr. KK)current
Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo; current pastor serving the St. Mary / St. Joseph / St. Charles parish cluster.