St. Joseph’s “Little Church” on Rockford Road in Plymouth continues to serve the parish 144 years after it was constructed by French-Canadian parishioners. It is one of the parish’s two churches, with a larger, contemporary church in New Hope.

St. Joseph’s “Little Church” on Rockford Road in Plymouth continues to serve the parish 144 years after it was constructed by French-Canadian parishioners. It is one of the parish’s two churches, with a larger, contemporary church in New Hope. COURTESY JASON WITTAK

St. Joseph the builder might find it interesting that parishioners of St. Joseph in New Hope and Plymouth worship each Sunday in two very different churches in separate cities, more than four miles apart.

Whether they attend Mass in Plymouth at the traditional “little church,” built in 1877, or in New Hope at the 21st century church that seats 950, all 1,600 households trace their parish’s roots to a log cabin church near Medicine Lake in the 1850s.

That first church — and the two that followed — help tell the story of the originally French-Canadian community, which has seen growth and challenges.

“Twice that I know, this (little) church has been struck by lightning, set on fire, and if the Good Lord wanted it destroyed, he would not have put the fire out,” the late Catherine Ernst wrote about her parish in the 1970s.

In 1854, 10 families met for Mass in Eustache Francois Boucher’s Plymouth log cabin, said parishioner and parish history writer Leo Frank, 85.

Four years later, the congregation’s log cabin church was named for Boucher’s patron, St. Francis, and dedicated by Father Joseph Hurth, who ministered at the mission parish monthly.

A crucifix hangs over the round altar in St. Joseph in New Hope, built in 2004.

A crucifix hangs over the round altar in St. Joseph in New Hope, built in 2004. COURTESY JASON WITTAK

In 1877, parishioners built the white wood-frame church still on Rockford Road on land donated by Boucher’s son-in-law, Joseph Noel. Subsequently, they renamed it for Noel’s patron, St. Joseph.

Little evidence remains of the parish’s French-Canadian heritage, said Frank, a member since 2005 who attends Mass in New Hope.

St. Joseph remained a mission parish until 1934, when Father Nicholas Finn became its first resident pastor. Parishioners had raised $5,200 for a rectory, but Father Finn didn’t think the parish would grow, current pastor Father Terry Rassmussen said.

With Archbishop John Gregory Murray’s permission, Father Finn used the rectory funds to start St. Mary of the Lake parish, also in Plymouth, archdiocesan archives state. St. Joseph parishioners petitioned the archbishop for another pastor and permission to build a rectory. With his approval, the parish built the rectory and received another pastor.

“There were a lot of angry people, but once again the families got together and started having chicken dinners and whatever they could to raise money for the rectory, because the bishop told the people he would not assign a priest permanently to the parish unless they had a rectory,” Father Rassmussen said.

St. Joseph never opened a school because there were three Catholic schools nearby, he said. In 1965, while the western suburbs grew, St. Joseph’s parish boundaries were extended eastward. It obtained property in New Hope because the Plymouth church couldn’t accommodate parish growth, he said.

The parish offered Masses at a nearby elementary school before building its current parish center with more worship space. It was dedicated in 1972.

The parish added a new church onto the parish center in 2004. Inside is a statue of the Holy Family, while outside is a metal sculpture of St. Joseph and a statue of the parish’s first patron, St. Francis. The Plymouth church also has a St. Joseph statue.

Before the pandemic, the parish celebrated its patron’s March 19 feast day with Mass and a pasta dinner, Father Rassmussen said.

Social justice became a greater parish priority in the 1960s under then-pastor Father Blaine Barr. From July 8-Aug. 8 the parish is exhibiting “The Forgiveness Project” featuring photos and stories of victim-survivors and perpetrators of crime and conflict.

Father Rassmussen appreciates St. Joseph’s patronage of families, a happy death and workers. “He seems like a universal saint,” he said, “therefore, I am pleased that our parish is named after St. Joseph, because so many people can relate to him.”

Editor’s note: This is the fifth story in a monthly series on 10 places in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with connections to St. Joseph.