About St. Joseph · Gilbert, Minnesota
St. Joseph Catholic Church is a Roman-Latin rite parish in Gilbert, Minnesota, on the Mesabi Iron Range, belonging to the Diocese of Duluth. Founded in 1910 by Slovenian immigrants who worked in the local iron mines, the parish has long served the small mining community at 515 Summit Street N. Since the late 1960s/early 2000s it has been clustered with Resurrection Parish in neighboring Eveleth (301 Adams Ave.), sharing a single pastor, parish office, and joint website at rsjcatholic.org. Today it offers weekend and weekday Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, religious education, and outreach ministries that knit together the faith community of Gilbert and the surrounding Range towns.
- Established
- 1910
- Patron
- St. Joseph (husband of the Virgin Mary, foster father of Jesus; patron of the Universal Church, fathers, and workers, traditionally invoked for a happy death)
- Rector
- Fr. Justin Fish (current pastor of the Resurrection–St. Joseph cluster as listed on directory listings; Fr. Michael Garry served the cluster 2016–2020 before being reassigned to Brainerd)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Duluth
Why belong here
St. Joseph's is a tight-knit parish rooted in more than a century of mining-town Catholic life on the Mesabi Range. It offers Sunday and weekday Mass, a weekly Friday Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration, and regular confession times — all in a small, welcoming church on Summit Street. As part of the Resurrection–St. Joseph cluster, parishioners share faith formation, youth ministry, outreach, and the parish office with neighboring Eveleth, giving a small-town parish a broader community and stronger sacramental life.
Mass times at St. Joseph
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (or by appointment)
- Friday 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Adoration times
- Friday 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM (Holy Hour)
History of St. Joseph Parish, Gilbert
St. Joseph was founded on December 27, 1909 by Rev. John E. Schiffrer, a Slovene priest from Stara Loka in Upper Carniola, for the iron-mining families of the Mesabi Range. The 1912 FEEFHS survey of Minnesota Slovenes describes the surrounding Sparta-Gilbert community as about 300 strong, mostly working the iron mines and organized around KSKJ Lodge #20 of St. Joseph and KSKJ Lodge #135 of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. The parish continued to serve Gilbert through mine closures, demographic change, and the broader shifts in the American Church, and is today part of a cluster with Resurrection Parish in Eveleth.
- Founded December 27, 1909 by Rev. John E. Schiffrer
- Slovene-immigrant founding community of iron miners
- St. Louis County church records list founding date of 1910
- Earlier mission outreach to Elba and Mountain Iron
- Today clustered with Resurrection Parish, Eveleth
Parish Cluster with Resurrection, Eveleth
St. Joseph in Gilbert and Resurrection in Eveleth together form a single parish cluster served by one pastor and sharing a joint parish office and website at rsjcatholic.org. The parish office is housed at Resurrection Church, 301 Adams Ave., Eveleth, MN 55734. Resurrection serves as the 'Main Church' for the cluster. Both parishes retain their own church buildings, weekly Mass schedules, and parish identity.
- Shared pastor across both parishes
- Single parish office at 301 Adams Ave., Eveleth
- Shared website: rsjcatholic.org
- Each church keeps its own Mass schedule
Clergy and Staff
The cluster is currently led by Fr. Justin Fish, listed as pastor in diocesan directory listings and as celebrant at St. Joseph's funerals by late 2022. He succeeded Fr. Michael Garry, who served the Resurrection–St. Joseph cluster from approximately 2016 until January 2021, when Bishop Daniel Felten of the Diocese of Duluth reassigned him to St. Francis & All Saints parishes in Brainerd. During the 2020–2021 transition, retired priests Fr. Dennis Hoffman and Fr. Charlie Flynn came out of retirement to fill in as interim clergy. Parish staff supporting the cluster includes Mary Hecimovich, Kathy Madzey, Nicole Nguyen, and Janine LaVigne.
- Fr. Justin Fish — Pastor
- Fr. Michael Garry — Pastor c. 2016–January 2021
- Fr. Dennis Hoffman — retired interim priest
- Fr. Charlie Flynn — retired interim priest
- Mary Hecimovich — parish staff
- Kathy Madzey — parish staff
- Nicole Nguyen — parish staff
- Janine LaVigne — parish staff
Faith Formation, Youth, and Outreach
As part of the Resurrection–St. Joseph cluster, the parish offers religious education, sacramental preparation, youth ministry (including youth mission trips that former pastor Fr. Michael Garry highlighted as a highlight of his ministry), and an outreach ministry that serves the broader Gilbert and Eveleth communities on the Mesabi Range.
- Religious education / faith formation
- Sacramental preparation
- Youth ministry and youth mission trips
- Outreach ministry
Diocese of Duluth
St. Joseph Parish belongs to the Diocese of Duluth, a Roman Catholic diocese of the Latin rite serving northeastern Minnesota. The diocese appears in its parish-finder listings and oversees priestly assignments — including the 2021 reassignment of Fr. Michael Garry from the Resurrection–St. Joseph cluster to Brainerd.
- Diocese of Duluth
- Latin (Roman) rite
- Listed on diocesan parish finder
Visiting St. Joseph's
The church sits at the corner of Summit Street and Louisiana Avenue in Gilbert, Minnesota (515 Summit St. N., ZIP 55741). The parish office for the cluster is at Resurrection Church, 301 Adams Ave., Eveleth, MN 55734, reachable at (218) 744-3277 or (218) 741-9551. Visitors are invited to celebrate Mass with the faith community and to consult the parish website at rsjcatholic.org for current times, bulletins, and parish news.
- Address: 515 Summit St. N., Gilbert, MN 55741
- Corner of Summit St. and Louisiana Ave.
- Parish office: 301 Adams Ave., Eveleth, MN 55734
- Website: rsjcatholic.org
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. John E. Schiffrer1909–1911
Slovene-born founder of St. Joseph Parish; arrived in Gilbert on December 27, 1909; also served missions at Elba and Mountain Iron; left September 19, 1911 for St. Joseph in Chisholm.
- Rev. Michael Garryc. 2016–Jan 2021
Served as pastor of the Resurrection (Eveleth) – St. Joseph (Gilbert) cluster; reassigned by the Diocese of Duluth to St. Francis & All Saints parishes in Brainerd effective January 2021.
- Fr. Justin Fish2022–present
Listed as celebrant at St. Joseph's funerals by late 2022 and as pastor in online directory listings; leads the Resurrection–St. Joseph cluster.