About St. Peter · Cuba City, Wisconsin
St. Peter is a small rural Catholic parish in the rolling farmland of southwestern Wisconsin, situated in the unincorporated community of Elk Grove within Lafayette County and using a Cuba City mailing address. It is one of five worship sites of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, a clustered Catholic community served out of Darlington that also includes Holy Rosary Church (Darlington), St. Matthew (Shullsburg), St. Philomena (Belmont), St. Joseph (Gratiot), and St. John (South Wayne). All five sites together form the St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison. St. Peter Church offers a Saturday vigil Mass and Saturday confession for farm families and country neighbors of the Elk Grove area.
- Patron
- St. Peter (the Apostle)
- Rector
- Fr. Luke (as listed on parish website; parochial administrator of the St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate most recently listed as Rev. Fr. William Vernon per Diocese of Madison appointments)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Madison (pastorate: St. Isidore the Farmer)
Why belong here
St. Peter offers country Catholics of the Elk Grove and Cuba City area a quiet, traditional way to keep the weekly Sabbath, with Saturday evening Mass and confession timed for rural working families. Joining this small mission church means worshipping alongside multigenerational farm families of the Lafayette County hills, sharing the same pastor who shepherds four neighboring parishes, and remaining part of a cluster that celebrates the faith in five historic church buildings across southwest Wisconsin.
Mass times at St. Peter
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 6:00 PM – 6:20 PM (not every Saturday — check the parish website)
St. Peter Parish at a Glance
St. Peter Catholic Church serves the rural community of Elk Grove in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, just northeast of Cuba City. Today it is one of five worship sites of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, the Catholic cluster that operates out of Holy Rosary Church in nearby Darlington. The parish shares clergy and sacramental life with its sister churches under the St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate of the Diocese of Madison.
History of the Parish Community
St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery appears in the 1895 Rand McNally Atlas of the area, evidence that the Catholic community at Elk Grove was already established in the late 1800s when German and other immigrant farming families settled the rolling hills of Lafayette County. A small parish school, St. Peter's School in Elk Grove Township, served local farm children into at least the 1950s; surviving photographs from 1946, 1954, and 1956 list students with surnames still attached to the parish community.
- St. Peter's Catholic Cemetery documented in the 1895 Rand McNally Atlas
- St. Peter's School (Elk Grove Township) documented in photos from c. 1946, 1954, and 1956
- Long-standing families associated with the parish include Averkamp, Belken, Foley, McWilliams, Pratt, Riechers, Wedig, and Whitaker
Our Lady of Fatima Parish Cluster
Like many small rural Catholic parishes in southwest Wisconsin, St. Peter at Elk Grove was joined with neighboring churches into a multi-site parish to share limited clergy resources. The result is Our Lady of Fatima Parish, the legal parish entity, whose public-facing website (darlingtoncatholic.org) is currently being rebuilt. The parish takes its name from the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal, and serves five historic worship sites across Lafayette and surrounding counties.
- Holy Rosary Church, Darlington (104 E. Harriet St.) — main site and parish office
- St. Matthew Church, Shullsburg
- St. Philomena Church, Belmont
- St. Joseph Church, Gratiot
- St. John Church, South Wayne
- St. Peter Church, Elk Grove / Cuba City
St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate
Our Lady of Fatima Parish and its sister parishes belong to the St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate, one of several grouped pastorates organized by the Diocese of Madison to share priests across multiple worship sites. The pastorate also includes St. Philomena (Belmont), St. Joseph (Gratiot), St. Matthew (Shullsburg), and St. John (South Wayne). The patron, St. Isidore the Farmer, is a fitting choice for a cluster of rural, farming-community parishes.
Clergy and Leadership
The Our Lady of Fatima Parish website is signed by 'Fr. Luke' and identifies him as the priest currently shepherding the cluster. Diocesan appointment records show that the St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate has been led by various priests in recent years as the Diocese of Madison responds to priestly assignment changes; the website itself notes it is still under construction and may not yet reflect the latest assignments.
- Fr. Luke — parish priest as listed on darlingtoncatholic.org
- Rev. Fr. William Vernon — parochial administrator of the St. Isidore the Farmer Pastorate per Diocese of Madison appointments effective July 2025
- Rev. Fr. Christopher Gernetzke — former parochial administrator of the cluster
Visiting St. Peter
St. Peter Church sits along St. Peter's Road in the rural landscape between Cuba City and Darlington. Because Mass and confession are not celebrated every Saturday, travelers and returning parishioners should verify the current week's schedule on the parish website (darlingtoncatholic.org) or by calling the parish office before visiting.
- Address: 26203 St. Peter's Road, Cuba City, WI 53807
- Parish phone: (608) 776-4059
- Website: http://darlingtoncatholic.org
- Diocese: Diocese of Madison