CHELSEA, Iowa — St. Joseph’s Parish has survived floods and other challenges of biblical proportions in the more than 150 years since its founding in 1867, but parishioners wonder if it can endure the major restructuring taking place in the Archdiocese of Dubuque.
Under the “Journey in Faith” plan, which takes effect July 14, 2026, the church in Chelsea, Iowa, will no longer have a weekend Mass, though services will be offered at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, and funerals and weddings can continue to be celebrated there.
Instead, during an interim schedule through Jan. 15, 2027, members are being directed to St. Patrick’s Church, about a 15-minutes’ drive away in Tama, or to St. Michael’s, a slightly shorter drive to Belle Plaine, or even a more than 30-mile drive to Marshalltown, for weekend Masses, a pillar of the Catholic faith.
“We worry, are people going to leave the religion altogether,” said Ellen Waterbury, a longtime member of St. Joseph’s, who asked her fellow parishioners after their June 27 Mass to fill out a survey to determine the direction of future events.
Members of St. Joseph’s Parish gather for a meal after Mass on June 27, 2026, in Chelsea, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
The annual Fall Festival, held for more than 100 years during Labor Day weekend, is among those events now in limbo, in addition to general funding for upkeep of the church and its former school building and grounds.
Related: Rural Iowa parish keeps Czech-flavored festival alive
Settled in the mid-1800s by Czech immigrants who found the rolling hills of east-central Iowa similar to their home country, Chelsea residents and surrounding farm families still retain Czech traditions, including cuisine served during the festival, held on the St. Joseph’s parish grounds.
Phrases in the Czech language and names of those Czech families remain etched along the walls of the church, many reflecting donations of stunning stained glass windows.
Not only does the parish serve the needs of area Catholics, but functions as a community resource, taking up collections for the food bank, filling in for the public library when it was decimated in the 2020 hurricane-strength derecho windstorm and more.
A sign at St. Joseph’s Church asks for donations to the food pantry in Chelsea, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
See photos from the derecho aftermath of the Chelsea library
While Archbishop Thomas Zinkula called on Catholics to trust in the process, St. Joseph’s isn’t the only parish seeing the short end of the “Journey in Faith” stick.
Under the plan, the 160 parishes in the Archdiocese of Dubuque will be organized into 24 pastorates, a group of parishes that will share pastoral leadership, ministries and resources, with a number of churches are losing their weekend Masses.
Members of St. Wenceslaus and Immaculate Conception in southeast Cedar Rapids are being directed to St. Matthew and St. Patrick churches on the north side of the city for weekend Masses, though St. Wenceslaus will still offer Masses at 8:30 a.m. on Saturdays, and in Latin at 8:30 a.m. Sundays.
The Feast of Corpus Christi is celebrated Sunday, June 7, 2026, by Immaculate Conception Church, with members kneeling outside in a parking lot in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Inexplicably, the young and growing Hispanic population of parishioners at Immaculate Conception will no longer have a Spanish Mass there, which will move to St. Matthew’s at 12:30 p.m. Sundays, while I.C., as it’s known, will only have daily Masses during the week at 12:05 p.m.
Hundreds of I.C. parishioners gathered to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi on June 7, held partly outdoors around the church along 10th Street SE, between Third and Fourth avenues.
Serving diverse ethnic groups, Immaculate Conception is the oldest Catholic parish in Cedar Rapids, dating back to its roots in 1857, with its current brick church built in 1914-1916.
More: See photos as the church unveils its restoration
The Archdiocese of Dubuque serves more than 180,000 Catholics across 30 counties in northeast Iowa, but Zinkula noted in his April announcement that the number attending Mass has declined by 46 percent over the past 20 years, and the number of priests has also been decreasing.
A Czech flag is displayed at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (photo/Cindy Hadish)
Like St. Joseph’s, St. Wenceslaus was founded by Czech immigrants, and in 2024, celebrated 150 years since its founding in 1874.
But unlike the Chelsea parish where its annual festival is up in the air, St. Wenceslaus plans to hold its annual Czech Goulash Day, set this year for Sunday, Sept. 27.
More than 80 people attended a Mass on July 4, which bid farewell to the Rev. Polycarp Hagan, who has been serving in Cedar Rapids from the Archdiocese of Cape Coast, Ghana, and a Mass in June at St. Wenceslaus included a baptism.
See photos from the 150th celebration and more of some of the final weekend Masses below:
St. Wenceslaus Church
Immaculate Conception, Feast of Corpus Christi
St. Joseph’s Church
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