About St. Patrick · Jackson, Nebraska
St. Patrick Catholic Church is a small rural parish in Jackson, Nebraska, in Dakota County in the northeast corner of the Archdiocese of Omaha. The parish traces its origins to 1856, when Father Jeremiah Trecy led a colony of Catholic families from the Dubuque, Iowa area to found St. John's City on the Missouri River — the first Catholic settlement in the Nebraska Territory. After a tornado in 1860 destroyed the church there and the river kept eroding the land, the parish relocated about a mile south to Jackson, where it continues to serve a farming community. Today St. Patrick is one of twelve parishes in the Holy Apostles Parish Family, a collaborative grouping formed in 2023 by Archbishop George Lucas, sharing three priests across its parishes. Sunday Mass is celebrated in English at 9:15 AM, with confession offered beforehand.
- Established
- 1856
- Patron
- St. Patrick
- Rector
- Rev. Mark T. Beran
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Omaha
Why belong here
St. Patrick offers the steady rhythm of a small rural Catholic community: a single Sunday Mass at 9:15 AM in English, with confession beforehand, served by priests of the Holy Apostles Parish Family. Worshippers here belong to a parish with deep Nebraska roots — the first Catholic settlement in the territory — and today share faith formation, Kateri Circle service opportunities, and sacramental life with eleven sister parishes across northeast Nebraska. It is a faithful, generational community for families in the Jackson and Dakota County area who value continuity, history, and quiet country parish life.
Mass times at St. Patrick
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 9:00 AM – 9:15 AM (before Mass)
History of St. Patrick Parish — The First Catholic Settlement in Nebraska
St. Patrick Catholic Church in Jackson is the living continuation of the very first Catholic parish in what is now Nebraska. In June 1856, Father Jeremiah Trecy led approximately twenty-five Catholic families from the Dubuque, Iowa area onto the Missouri River bottomlands and surveyed a town he named St. John's City — also called St. Patrick's Colony. Within weeks more Irish Catholic pioneer families joined, and a steam sawmill, grist mill, log schoolhouse, and the territory's first Catholic church rose along the river. Despite a devastating first winter that killed nearly half the settlers, the town grew to nearly 200 people by 1858. The parish is recognized in the 1858 Catholic Almanac as 'St. Patrick's Settlement, St. John's,' attended by Rev. J. Tracy.
- Founded in 1856 by Father Jeremiah Trecy with about 25 families
- Original site at St. John's City, one mile north of present Jackson, on the Missouri River
- First Catholic settlement in the Nebraska Territory
The 1860 Tornado and Move to Jackson
On July 15, 1860, a tornado swept through St. John's City from the west and leveled St. Patrick's Church along with other buildings. Combined with the Missouri River's chronic erosion of the bottomland, the disaster sealed the town's fate. The settlers relocated roughly a mile south to a newer town originally called Franklin, then renamed Jackson. A new brick Catholic church was built there, valued at $5,000 by the early 1880s. Father Dillon, who had succeeded Father Trecy, preached the first sermon in the new town of Jackson. Church records carried over from St. John's City, with the earliest surviving register dated 1858.
- Tornado struck July 15, 1860, destroying the church at St. John's City
- Missouri River erosion forced permanent relocation to Jackson
- Brick church built in Jackson by the early 1880s; surviving records begin 1858
Holy Apostles Parish Family
In 2023, Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha called on parishes across the archdiocese to form collaborative 'missional communities' in response to the changing rural landscape. Twelve parishes in northeast Nebraska responded by forming the Holy Apostles Parish Family — the name echoing the twelve apostles who first went out together to share the Gospel. The family shares three priests and one collaborative parish office, and collaborates on religious education, adult faith formation, youth ministry, and sacramental preparation. St. Patrick Jackson is one of the twelve founding member parishes.
- Formed in 2023 under Archbishop George Lucas
- Twelve parishes and two schools
- Three shared priests and one shared parish office
- Parishes include St. Augustine Winnebago, St. Cornelius Homer, Holy Cross Bancroft, Holy Family Decatur, St. John the Baptist Pender, St. Joseph Lyons, St. Joseph Walthill, St. Mary Hubbard, St. Michael South Sioux City, Our Lady of Fatima Macy, St. Patrick Jackson, Sacred Heart Emerson
Faith Formation & Shared Ministries
Religious education for children and adult faith formation are coordinated across the Holy Apostles Parish Family, so Jackson-area parishioners benefit from programs, retreats, and sacramental prep shared with sister parishes. The Kateri Circle, named for St. Kateri Tekakwitha, gathers Catholics and seekers across the parish family for a lifestyle of prayer, service, and worship; it is led by a chaplain (Fr. Mark Beran) with a chair, vice chair, treasurer, and secretary. The Red Life Youth Ministry is another parish-family-wide outreach, particularly serving communities around the St. Joseph and Our Lady of Fatima missions.
- Shared religious education (parish family)
- Adult faith formation (parish family)
- Kateri Circle — prayer, service, worship
- Red Life Youth Ministry
Clergy & Leadership
Rev. Mark T. Beran serves as Pastor of the Holy Apostles Parish Family and is listed by the Archdiocese of Omaha as Pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Jackson. The Archdiocese directory also lists Rev. Kevin J. Joyce as Senior Associate for St. Patrick Parish Jackson, and at times Rev. Andrew Sohm has been listed in connection with the Jackson parish grouping. Day-to-day parish life is supported by Hannah Hernandez (secretary of the Kateri Circle) and the parish-family office.
- Rev. Mark T. Beran — Pastor (Director and Pastor of the Holy Apostles Parish Family)
- Rev. Kevin J. Joyce — Senior Associate
- Hannah Hernandez — Kateri Circle secretary / parish office contact
Visit, Contact, and Location
St. Patrick Catholic Church is located at 119 East Elk Street in Jackson, Nebraska 68743, in Dakota County. The parish office phone is 402-878-2402 and the email contact is [email protected]. The parish shares the Holy Apostles Parish Family website, holyapostlesfamily.org, where bulletins, news, Mass schedules across all twelve parishes, and contact information for each cluster are posted. The parish family also maintains a Facebook presence under the Holy Apostles Family name.
- Address: 119 E. Elk St., Jackson, NE 68743
- Phone: 402-878-2402
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: holyapostlesfamily.org/st-patrick
- Facebook: HolyApostlesFamily
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Jeremiah Trecy (Tracy)1856 – c. 1860
Founder of the original St. John's City parish and the first Catholic settlement in Nebraska; led the colony from Dubuque, Iowa area.
- Father Dillonc. 1860
Succeeded Father Trecy at St. John's and preached the first sermon in the new town of Jackson after the move.