About St. Mary of the Lake · Plymouth, Minnesota
St. Mary of the Lake is a Catholic parish in Plymouth, Minnesota, in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Its roots go back to a small 1935 mission church at Schiebe's Corner, with the current church, school, rectory and convent built on Forestview Lane between 1961 and 1964 to serve the booming western suburbs. Today the parish serves about 950 registered families — roughly 2,184 parishioners drawn from many different school districts and neighborhoods — with weekend and weekday Masses, Eucharistic Adoration, a robust parish-life and outreach program, and a new family-based model of faith formation.
- Established
- 1935
- Patron
- St. Mary of the Lake (Blessed Virgin Mary)
- Rector
- Fr. Andrew Zipp
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Why belong here
St. Mary of the Lake is a mid-sized, multigenerational Catholic community on the southern shore of Medicine Lake that combines traditional parish life — weekday and weekend Mass, Friday morning Adoration, Saturday Reconciliation — with a deep culture of outreach. Its signature ministries include Neighbor-to-Neighbor (charitable giving and emergency assistance), Sharing & Caring Hands (a monthly meal prepared on-site), PRISM food-shelf support, ACCL pro-life work, the Crisis Nursery 'Cook for Kids' program, funeral luncheons for grieving families, and the beloved twice-monthly 'Holy Donuts' hospitality event after Sunday Mass. New families are welcomed with a recently relaunched 'Family of Faith' whole-family catechesis, a free parish subscription to FORMED, and active adult, music and parish-life programs led by a dedicated lay staff.
Mass times at St. Mary of the Lake
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:30 pm – 4:15 pm
Adoration times
- Friday after the 8:00 am Mass until 9:45 am
Parish History
St. Mary of the Lake was dedicated on September 8, 1935 at the rural crossroads of Schiebe's Corner, with the Catholic Schiebe family — especially matriarch Emma Schiebe — donating money and Father Nicholas Finn serving the mission while the first church was being built. By the mid-1950s the parish had grown to some 700 families and a new campus was built a few blocks southwest on Forestview Lane between 1961 and 1964, with the original 1935 church sold to Lutherans who still worship there. The parish school, staffed by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, closed in 1968 and was reborn as the nationally-noted Family Learning Center — an early whole-family catechesis model. The 1990s brought a major interior refurbishment (stained glass, air conditioning), and the parish today serves roughly 950 registered families from many different school districts.
- First Mass site: Schiebe's Corner, junction of County Road 15 and 73
- Dedicated September 8, 1935
- New Forestview Lane campus built 1961–1964
- School Sisters of Notre Dame staffed the parish school until 1968
- Family Learning Center launched fall 1969
- 1997 interior refurbishment with stained glass windows and A/C
Clergy & Parish Staff
The parish is led by Pastor Fr. Andrew Zipp and Deacon Bruce Bowen, supported by a full lay staff. The parish office can be reached at 763-545-1443 (fax 763-797-0996) or [email protected].
- Fr. Andrew Zipp — Pastor
- Deacon Bruce Bowen
- Theresemarie Johnson — Pastoral Minister
- Don Felling — Director of Music
- Bette Wolf — Director of Parish Life
- Jessica Rodriguez — Parish Life Administrative Assistant
- Holly Weatherson — Administrative Assistant, Bulletin Editor & Sacramental Records
- John Call — Facilities Manager & Maintenance
Faith Formation & Religious Education
Beginning in the fall, St. Mary of the Lake is rolling out a new model of catechesis called 'A Family of Faith — Catechesis for the Whole Family,' designed to encourage and equip parents to live and teach the Catholic Faith within their church. The parish also offers a free FORMED subscription so families can watch the Sunday Readings video, enjoy Catholic movies, and use award-winning marriage and children's programs from any device.
- 'A Family of Faith' whole-family catechesis (launching fall)
- FORMED parish subscription (formed.org)
Music Ministry
Music at St. Mary of the Lake is led by Director of Music Don Felling. (The 1936 parish auditorium actually hosted the first musical program in the area with a new pipeless organ — the first of its kind locally — and music has been a centerpiece of parish life ever since.)
- Director of Music: Don Felling
- Director of Parish Life: Bette Wolf
Outreach & Social Ministries
St. Mary of the Lake operates a deep network of social-ministry partnerships funded in large part through the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program, which collects from parishioners on the fourth Sunday of each month and online. Neighbor-to-Neighbor supports Project for Pride in Living, Sharing and Caring Hands, The Bridge for Youth, Hope Community, Wayside Recovery Center, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and direct emergency assistance to individuals and families.
- Neighbor-to-Neighbor — parish charity and emergency assistance
- Sharing & Caring Hands — monthly meal prepared on-site + 100+ Thanksgiving turkeys annually
- PRISM — food shelf partner (Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, Golden Valley, New Hope, Plymouth, Robbinsdale)
- ACCL (A Community Caring for Life) — Respect Life 'baby shower' + Crisis Nursery 'Cook for Kids'
- Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery support
- Christmas Share-A-Gift gift collection
- Funeral Luncheons ministry for bereaved families
- Welcoming and Hospitality — greeting ministry and 'Holy Donuts' twice a month after Sunday Mass
Parish Life & Hospitality
Hospitality is led by the Director of Parish Life, with the parish's beloved 'Holy Donuts' event after Sunday Mass twice a month and a dedicated greeting team welcoming visitors and new families.
- Director of Parish Life: Bette Wolf
- 'Holy Donuts' after Sunday Mass twice a month
- Greeting and welcoming team
- Funeral luncheon coordination
Sacraments
The parish provides online fillable forms for Baptism registration and Sacramental Certificate requests, and Reconciliation is available every Saturday afternoon from 3:30 to 4:15 pm. Couples preparing for marriage, families seeking infant baptism, and those needing sacramental records are encouraged to contact the parish office.
- Baptism registration (online form)
- Sacramental Certificate request (online form)
- Reconciliation — Saturdays 3:30–4:15 pm
- Marriage — contact the parish office
Spiritual Devotions
Beyond the Mass schedule the parish offers Friday-morning Eucharistic Adoration after the 8:00 am Mass and the ancient practice of Lectio Divina (sacred reading in four movements: lectio, meditatio, oratio and contemplatio), which the parish describes on its website as a way to prayerfully encounter Scripture.
- Eucharistic Adoration — Friday after 8:00 am Mass until 9:45 am
- Lectio Divina — lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplatio
- FORMATION (online)
- Free access to FORMED.org — Catholic video, audio and e-book library
Visit, Connect & Get Involved
Newcomers can register online, browse Volunteer Opportunities, read the weekly Bulletin, check the Calendar, or update their parishioner information via the home page. The parish also partners with the Knights of Columbus Father George Council for service events such as Feed My Starving Children packing evenings in Chanhassen.
- Online new-member registration
- Volunteer Opportunities listing
- Weekly Bulletin (online)
- Parish Calendar (online)
- Knights of Columbus Father George Council partnership (Feed My Starving Children)
- Office hours: Mon–Thu 8:30 am–4:30 pm; Fri 8:30 am–3:30 pm
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Nicholas Finn1930s
First priest assigned to Schiebe's Corner; said Mass there while the 1935 mission church was being built.
- Fr. Anthony Louis1960s
Led the parish into the Forestview Lane campus and the Second Vatican Council era; launched ecumenical initiatives including a 1964 open house with 15 Protestant churches and a Holy Land / Rome pilgrimage with Rev. Warren Heggem.