About St. Peter Mission · Ordway, Colorado
St. Peter is a small Catholic mission church serving the farming community of Ordway, Colorado, about 50 miles east of Pueblo on Colorado Highway 96. Originally gathered in 1906-07 by German Catholic settlers who built a humble $920 church, the parish has survived floods, blizzards, the Dust Bowl, and chronic clergy shortages, weathering 19 pastors in its first century. The mission is currently clustered with St. Peter the Apostle in nearby Rocky Ford (and the Fowler mission Mary, Queen of Heaven) as part of the Ark Valley Parishes, and since 2025 has been served by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) under the Diocese of Pueblo.
- Established
- 1906 (parish gathered); 1907 (first church built); 1968 (current church building dedicated)
- Patron
- St. Peter (the Apostle)
- Rector
- Currently administered as part of the Ark Valley Parishes cluster. Pastoral care entrusted in 2025 to the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). Previous long-time administrator: Rev. Mario Murillo (named 2005).
- Diocese
- Diocese of Pueblo
Why belong here
St. Peter Mission in Ordway offers a small, traditional Catholic community in the Arkansas Valley of southeastern Colorado, where Mass is celebrated on Sunday mornings and sacraments are shared with the neighboring parish family in Rocky Ford. The mission has a remarkable 100+ year story of lay Catholic families passing the faith from generation to generation through Dust Bowl, flood and clergy shortage, and the parish is now being shepherded by SOLT missionaries as part of the wider Ark Valley Parishes cluster that also serves Fowler, La Junta, and Las Animas. For Spanish-speaking Catholics in the area, weekend and Spanish-language services are coordinated across the cluster, and lay people actively help keep the small Ordway church thriving on the prairie.
Mass times at St. Peter Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Fourth Saturday of the month at 9:00 AM (at St. Peter, Ordway)
- Saturdays 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM at St. Peter the Apostle, Rocky Ford (cluster-wide)
Adoration times
- Holy Adoration and Benediction: Fridays at 8:30 AM at St. Peter the Apostle, Rocky Ford (cluster-wide)
St. Peter Mission — Ordway, Colorado
St. Peter is a small Catholic mission church in Ordway, the seat of Crowley County in the Arkansas Valley of southeastern Colorado. It is part of the Ark Valley Parishes cluster of the Diocese of Pueblo and is twinned historically with the larger St. Peter the Apostle Parish in nearby Rocky Ford. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 905 Main Street, with sacraments and other services coordinated across the cluster.
- Mission church of the Diocese of Pueblo
- Clustered with St. Peter the Apostle (Rocky Ford) and Mary, Queen of Heaven (Fowler)
- Sunday Mass at 10:00 AM (English)
History
German Catholic farmers in the Ordway area gathered in 1906 and persuaded Rev. Michael Rank, a tubercular Benedictine from Kansas, to come pastor them. A modest $920 church was up by May 1907. Since then the mission has endured flood, blizzard, the Dust Bowl and chronic clergy shortages, served by 19 pastors in its first century — most famously by Rev. Louis Doherty, who shepherded the parish from 1916 to 1967, and by Rev. William Powers, who built the present 905 Main Street church, dedicated in November 1968 when the original was sold to a Lutheran congregation.
- 1906 — parish gathered by local German Catholic farmers
- 1907 — first church built (cost $920)
- 1916–1967 — Rev. Louis Doherty's 51-year pastorate
- 1968 — current church building at 905 Main St. dedicated
- 1980 — Doherty Park dedicated for Fr. Louis Doherty on his 100th birthday
- 1981 — pastoral care assumed by priests of the Pueblo Diocese
- 1987–1999 — Vincentian community ministers
- 2005 — Rev. Mario Murillo named administrator of the cluster
- 2006 — centennial jubilee celebrated with Bishop Arthur Tafoya
- 2025 — pastoral care entrusted to SOLT
Patron and Feast Day
The mission is named for St. Peter the Apostle, whose universal feast is celebrated on June 29 (jointly with St. Paul). Because St. Peter Mission shares its patron with the nearby St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Rocky Ford, the two communities celebrate a single joint patronal feast in mid-July, typically with a Mass celebrated by the Dean of the La Junta Deanery and a parish dinner in the parish hall.
- Patron: St. Peter the Apostle
- Universal feast: June 29
- Local patronal Mass: held jointly with St. Peter the Apostle, Rocky Ford
Parish Life & the Ark Valley Cluster
For most of its modern history St. Peter in Ordway has been too small to support a resident priest, so it is shepherded alongside St. Peter the Apostle in Rocky Ford and, since 2025, Mary Queen of Heaven in Fowler as a single pastoral family within the Diocese of Pueblo. From 2025 the cluster is staffed by the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). Laity play a particularly visible role in keeping the small Ordway mission running — a fact locals and the Pueblo Chieftain have highlighted more than once.
- Cluster partner: St. Peter the Apostle, Rocky Ford (1209 Swink Ave)
- Cluster partner: Mary, Queen of Heaven, Fowler
- Stafing community (2025– ): Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT)
- Strong lay involvement in day-to-day mission life
Mass & Sacrament Schedule
Sunday Mass at St. Peter, Ordway is celebrated at 10:00 AM in English. Confessions for the Ordway mission are heard on the fourth Saturday of each month at 9:00 AM. Daily Mass (Tuesday–Friday at 8:00 AM), Saturday vigil Mass (4:00 PM), additional Sunday Mass (8:00 AM), confessions (Saturdays 2:30–3:30 PM) and Holy Hour with Adoration and Benediction (Fridays 8:30 AM) are all available at the cluster's main church, St. Peter the Apostle in Rocky Ford.
- Sunday — 10:00 AM, English, St. Peter, Ordway
- Saturday Vigil — 4:00 PM, St. Peter the Apostle, Rocky Ford
- Sunday — 8:00 AM, St. Peter the Apostle, Rocky Ford
- Daily Mass Tue–Fri — 8:00 AM, Rocky Ford
- Confessions in Ordway — 4th Saturday of the month, 9:00 AM
- Confessions Rocky Ford — Saturdays 2:30–3:30 PM
- Adoration & Benediction — Fridays 8:30 AM, Rocky Ford
Languages Spoken
Sunday Mass in Ordway is celebrated in English; the wider Ark Valley cluster (especially La Junta and Las Animas) offers Spanish-language Masses on weekends and daily Mass in Spanish on select days, as well as Spanish-language quinceañera celebrations.
- English — primary Sunday Mass in Ordway
- Spanish — available within the wider Ark Valley cluster parishes
Sacraments
The mission helps Catholics prepare for and celebrate the usual sacraments. Because the parish is so small, marriage and quinceañera celebrations, as well as first sacraments, are typically coordinated with the cluster parishes — weddings and quinceañeras at the cluster parishes are scheduled on Saturdays at 12:00 PM.
- Baptism — prepared through the cluster parishes
- Marriage preparation — coordinate with the cluster office
- Quinceañeras — Saturdays 12:00 PM at the cluster parishes
- Confession — monthly at the Ordway mission, weekly at Rocky Ford
Visit & Contact
St. Peter Mission sits on Main Street in downtown Ordway, Colorado. The mailing address is PO Box 218, Ordway, CO 81063-0218. The mission can be reached through the Ark Valley Parishes cluster office. Worshippers and visitors are warmly welcomed.
- Street address: 905 Main St., Ordway, CO 81063
- Mailing: PO Box 218, Ordway, CO 81063-0218
- Phone (mission): (719) 267-4645
- Phone (cluster office — Rocky Ford): (719) 254-3565
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: facebook.com/StPetersCatholicChurchofRockyFord
People & Pastoral Care
St. Peter in Ordway is now shepherded by SOLT missionaries serving the broader Ark Valley cluster for the Diocese of Pueblo. The mission continues the tradition of lay-led care that has kept the parish alive across generations.
- Diocese: Diocese of Pueblo
- Cluster staff: Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), 2025–
- Pastoral leadership shared with St. Peter the Apostle, Rocky Ford
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Michael Rank, OSB1906–
Founding pastor; tubercular Benedictine priest from Benedictine College in Atchison, KS, who came for his health; presided over completion of the first $920 church in May 1907.
- Rev. Louis Doherty1916–1967
Longest-tenured pastor, more than 50 years; still alive at age 100 when the parish dedicated the adjacent Doherty Park in 1980; died shortly after, just shy of his 101st birthday.
- Rev. William Powers1967–
Came on in 1967 and built the current house of worship; the old 1907 church was sold to a Lutheran congregation in November 1968.
- Benedictine and Franciscan prieststhrough ~1981
Religious-order priests shepherded the parish along the way.
- Priests of the Pueblo Diocese1981–
Diocesan clergy assumed responsibility in 1981.
- Vincentian community priests~1987–1999
Ministered to the parish for about a dozen years.
- Rev. Mario Murillo2005–
Relatively new priest from Mexico named administrator of the cluster of parishes (Rocky Ford–Ordway–Fowler) in 2005.
- Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT)2025–
Religious congregation entrusted with pastoral care of the Ark Valley cluster (St. Peter Rocky Ford, St. Peter Ordway mission, and Mary, Queen of Heaven Fowler) in 2025.