About St. Mary · Rock Valley, Iowa
St. Mary is a small-town Catholic parish in Rock Valley, Iowa, part of the Diocese of Sioux City. The parish is now grouped together with the nearby Our Lady of Guadalupe community (which also serves the wider Lyon County area with sites in Sioux Center and Hull) under a shared bilingual ministry led by Rev. Mauro Sanchez. Worship at St. Mary follows a simple weekly rhythm: Sunday Mass (with a bilingual celebration the first Sunday of the month, November–February), a Friday morning Mass in English, and a Thursday evening Mass celebrated in Spanish, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation offered before the Thursday evening Mass. The parish sits at 1821 14th Street in Rock Valley and welcomes both English- and Spanish-speaking Catholics from the surrounding small-town northwest Iowa community.
- Patron
- Blessed Virgin Mary
- Rector
- Rev. Mauro Sanchez
- Diocese
- Diocese of Sioux City
Why belong here
St. Mary offers a welcoming, bilingual Catholic community at the heart of small-town Rock Valley. Parishioners worship side-by-side in English and Spanish, with a first-Sunday bilingual Mass (November–February), a Thursday evening Spanish Mass, and a Friday morning English Mass — a rare rhythm that reflects the area's growing Hispanic population alongside its long-established farming families. As part of the wider Our Lady of Guadalupe multi-site parish, it gives families in Rock Valley the stability of a familiar small-town church while connecting them to a larger diocesan community of faith.
Mass times at St. Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Thursday 5:30 PM – 5:50 PM
About St. Mary, Rock Valley
St. Mary is a small-town Roman Catholic parish in Rock Valley, Iowa, within the Diocese of Sioux City. It is the principal Catholic church in Rock Valley itself and now operates as a worship site of the regional Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish, which was incorporated in Iowa on January 29, 2024 and is led by Rev. Mauro Sanchez. The parish serves both the long-standing English-speaking farming community and a growing Spanish-speaking Catholic population in northwest Iowa, reflecting its bilingual liturgical life. The parish's contact information has remained the same across reorganizations: 1821 14th Street, Rock Valley, IA 51247, phone (712) 476-2060, email [email protected].
- Parish name: St. Mary Parish, Rock Valley
- Part of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish (multi-site, Sioux Center / Hull / Rock Valley)
- Diocese of Sioux City
Pastoral Leadership & Staff
St. Mary is served as part of the multi-site Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish. The pastor is Rev. Mauro Sanchez, who is registered with the State of Iowa as the responsible official of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish (Iowa entity no. 776774, incorporated January 29, 2024).
- Pastor: Rev. Mauro Sanchez
Worship Languages
St. Mary is one of the few Catholic parishes in Lyon County with regular Spanish-language Mass. This bilingual character — including a special bilingual Mass on the first Sunday of the winter months — is at the heart of the parish's pastoral identity within the surrounding northwest Iowa region.
- English-language Mass: Friday 9:00 AM
- Spanish-language Mass: Thursday 6:00 PM
- Bilingual Mass: Sunday 10:30 AM, first Sunday of the month (Nov–Feb)
Visitor Information
St. Mary invites visitors to 'celebrate Mass with us' and welcomes anyone interested in the parish to call ahead at (712) 476-2060 to confirm current schedule, as the parish notes that services may vary by season. The church building is located on 14th Street in Rock Valley, easily reachable within Lyon County.
- Address: 1821 14th Street, Rock Valley, IA 51247
- Phone: (712) 476-2060
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.stmarysrockvalley.org/
Part of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Family
In early 2024, St. Mary Rock Valley joined with the Catholic communities of Sioux Center and Hull to form a single multi-site parish — Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Parish — under the Diocese of Sioux City. The merger reflects the demographics of the region, where Hispanic Catholics form a significant and growing share of the local Church, and ensures that parishes too small to support a resident pastor individually can share pastoral care, sacraments, and bilingual liturgy across multiple worship sites.
- Incorporation date: January 29, 2024 (Iowa Entity No. 776774)
- Legal form: Revised Domestic Non-Profit
- Other worship sites: Sioux Center and Hull, Iowa
- Registered official / pastor: Rev. Mauro Sanchez