About St. Joseph · Natchitoches, Louisiana
St. Joseph Chapel in Trichel is a small Catholic mission chapel of the Diocese of Alexandria, located on Highway 1226 in the rural community of Trichel in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. It is served as a mission of the historic Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in nearby Campti (the mother parish, established in 1831), and is currently pastored by Rev. Gus "Dutch" Voltz III along with his other assigned communities. The chapel gathers for a single Sunday Mass at 11:00 a.m., with confessions heard half an hour before Mass, bringing the Sacraments to Catholic families in this part of rural northwest Louisiana.
- Patron
- St. Joseph
- Rector
- Rev. Gus "Dutch" Voltz III
- Diocese
- Diocese of Alexandria
Why belong here
St. Joseph Chapel offers the faithful of rural Trichel a quiet, traditional Catholic setting to worship every Sunday at 11:00 a.m., with confession available beforehand — a small but devoted Sunday-Mass community cared for by the pastor and staff of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Campti. For Catholic families in the Trichel/Clarence area of Natchitoches Parish, it is a long-standing country chapel that keeps weekly Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation within reach of the home community.
Mass times at St. Joseph
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 10:30 am (30 minutes before Mass)
About St. Joseph Chapel, Trichel
St. Joseph Chapel is a rural Catholic mission chapel of the Diocese of Alexandria, located along Highway 1226 in the small community of Trichel in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. It is sustained as a mission (not a stand-alone parish) of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in neighboring Campti, and shares its pastor and parish staff with the mother parish and its other mission, Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel in Black Lake.
- Type: Mission chapel
- Diocese: Diocese of Alexandria (Natchitoches Deanery)
- Mother parish: Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Campti
Pastor and Parish Staff
St. Joseph Chapel is pastored from Campti; the pastor and parish office staff are based at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church and serve all three worship sites together.
- Pastor: Rev. Gus "Dutch" Voltz III
- Parish Secretary: Peggy Smith (at Nativity BVM, Campti)
- Director of Religious Education: Liz Laborde (at Nativity BVM, Campti)
- Parish office phone: (318) 476-2116
- Parish office hours (at mother parish): Tuesday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Mother Parish — Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Campti
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Campti (119 Tally Street, Campti, LA 71411) is the mother parish of St. Joseph Chapel. Listed as established 1831, it is one of the older parishes in the Natchitoches Deanery and also oversees Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel in Black Lake. Parishioners of St. Joseph Chapel access sacraments, faith-formation programming, and parish records through the Campti parish office.
- Year established: 1831
- Sunday Mass at Campti: 9:00 a.m.
- Weekday Masses at Campti: Tuesday–Friday, 8:30 a.m.
- Holy Day Mass: 5:30 p.m.
- Confessions at Campti: 30 minutes before all weekend Masses
- Devotions at Campti: First Friday Adoration after 8:30 a.m. Mass; First Friday Mass at 8:30 a.m.; Stations of the Cross Fridays 5:30 p.m. in Lent; Rosary Sundays at 8:40 a.m.
Location, Address, and Contact
The chapel sits along Highway 1226 north of Natchitoches in the Trichel/Clarence community. The mailing address uses the Campti parish office, since St. Joseph is administered from Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church.
- Street address: 2443 Hwy 1226, Natchitoches, LA 71457
- Mailing address: 119 Tally St., Campti, LA 71411
- Parish phone: (318) 476-2116
- Diocese web page: http://www.diocesealex.org/church/st-joseph-chapel-trichel/
The Trichel Catholic Community and Cemetery
The Catholic mission at Trichel is rooted in long-standing farming and Creole Catholic families of Natchitoches Parish. A USGenWeb cemetery transcription records St. Joseph's Catholic Church / Trichel Cemetery as located on Hwy. 1226 in Clarence, with graves of families including the Trichels, Duboises, Musselwhites, and LeMoines — bearing witness to the rural Catholic community the chapel continues to serve.
- Cemetery location: Hwy. 1226, Clarence, Louisiana
- Recorded family names: Trichel, Dubois, Musselwhite, LeMoine
- Cemetery record read: 7-27-1999 by Debbie Weaver Davis and Suzanne Shoemaker
Diocesan Context and Future
St. Joseph Chapel is listed in the Diocese of Alexandria's annual parish directory (a PDF resource published each year by the diocese). In early 2026, diocesan reporting indicated the chapel was among four Natchitoches-Parish chapels scheduled for closure under the bishop's 'Together as One Church' pastoral plan taking effect by mid-2026. Parishioners are encouraged to confirm current Mass and confession times directly with the diocese or the Campti parish office before traveling.
- Listed in Diocese of Alexandria 2023, 2024, and 2026 Directories
- Subject to the 'Together as One Church' pastoral plan announced by Bishop Robert W. Marshall
- Closest larger parishes for continued worship: Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception (Natchitoches) and St. Anthony of Padua (Natchitoches)