About St. Joseph Mission - Knippa · Knippa, Texas
St. Joseph Mission in Knippa, Texas is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the rural Frio River valley of southeastern Uvalde County. It is served from St. Patrick Catholic Church in nearby Sabinal and belongs to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio. The mission hosts a bilingual Saturday evening Mass for the local Catholic community of this small ranching and farming town between Sabinal and Uvalde. Worship is currently led by Fr. Antonio Xavier Hernandez-Peraza as administrator.
- Established
- 1907
- Patron
- St. Joseph
- Rector
- Fr. Antonio Xavier Hernandez-Peraza (Administrator)
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of San Antonio
Why belong here
St. Joseph Mission offers a close-knit, bilingual Catholic community in the small Frio River town of Knippa, where families have worshipped together for over a century. As a mission of St. Patrick Parish in Sabinal, it brings the sacraments — including weekly Mass and Confession — directly to rural parishioners who might otherwise travel a long distance. Visitors are welcomed with bilingual liturgy (English and Spanish), a Saturday evening schedule convenient for working ranch and farm families, and the warm, neighborly character of a small Texas country parish.
Mass times at St. Joseph Mission - Knippa
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 4:30-4:50 PM
About St. Joseph Mission, Knippa
St. Joseph Mission is a small Catholic mission church in the rural community of Knippa, Texas, on the Frio River between Sabinal and Uvalde. It is a mission of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Sabinal within the Archdiocese of San Antonio, and it is administered by Fr. Antonio Xavier Hernandez-Peraza. The mission serves a bilingual Catholic community drawn from the ranches, farms, and small towns of southeastern Uvalde County.
- Mission church in Knippa, Uvalde County, Texas
- Part of St. Patrick Parish, Sabinal
- Archdiocese of San Antonio
- Administrator: Fr. Antonio Xavier Hernandez-Peraza
History of the Mission
Catholic directories date the mission to 1907, and the present St. Joseph's Church building was constructed in 1913 through the efforts of Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Knippa, a local Catholic family prominent in the community that bears their name. The town itself had been founded decades earlier by George Knippa, who moved his family to the Frio River site in the 1880s. A 1927 one-room schoolhouse in Knippa doubled as a catechetical center and a gathering place for Mexican-American community events, showing the mission's deep roots in the spiritual and social life of the area. St. Joseph's remained an active congregation in Knippa through the late twentieth century and continues to serve the area today as a mission of St. Patrick Parish.
- Catholic presence in Knippa dated to 1907
- Church building constructed 1913
- Benefactors: Mr. and Mrs. W. F. Knippa
- 1927 schoolhouse used as catechetical center
- Listed as an active Knippa congregation in 1990
Parish Family — St. Patrick, Sabinal
St. Joseph Mission is one of three churches served by St. Patrick Catholic Church in Sabinal, Texas. Together with St. Mary in Vanderpool, it forms a small cluster of rural missions bringing Sunday Mass, daily Mass, Confession, and other sacraments to communities along Uvalde County's Frio River corridor. St. Patrick's website at stpatricksabinal.org is the central hub for bulletins, schedules, and contact information for all three churches.
- St. Patrick Catholic Church, Sabinal (parish church)
- St. Joseph Mission, Knippa
- St. Mary, Vanderpool
Languages and Liturgy
The mission's regular Saturday Mass is celebrated bilingually in English and Spanish, reflecting the heritage of Knippa's Catholic community. Visitors and parishioners are welcome at worship regardless of which language they are most comfortable with, and the bilingual format is meant to make the liturgy accessible to all the families of the Frio River valley.
- Saturday Mass celebrated bilingually
- English and Spanish used in the liturgy
Visiting Knippa
Knippa is a small community in southeastern Uvalde County, located on U.S. Highway 90, the Southern Pacific Railroad line, and the Frio River between Sabinal and Uvalde. Travelers coming for Mass at St. Joseph Mission will find a quiet rural town whose Catholic roots go back more than a century, and whose bilingual Saturday evening Mass draws worshippers from across the surrounding ranch country.
- Located on U.S. Highway 90 between Sabinal and Uvalde
- On the Frio River in southeastern Uvalde County
- Founded as Chatfield, renamed for George Knippa