
Families from St. Mary of the Visitation Parish-Ottumwa, St. Patrick Parish-Ottumwa and St. Mary Magdalen Parish-Bloomfield hear a talk from their pastor, Father Joseph Sia, during the parishes’ inaugural Family Formation Night at St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in October.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger

Some parishes, particularly in rural communities, have clustered for years while others are making that transition, a trend that will continue throughout the Diocese of Davenport for years to come, says Dan Ebener, diocesan director of parish planning. “It’s not realistic to have as many parishes (74) as we have in our diocese. It’s putting an undue burden on our priests, whose numbers continue to decline. More lay people need to step up to keep their parishes alive.”
Lay people from some of the clustered parishes spoke with Ebener and The Catholic Messenger last month about their experiences and how clustering enables their parishes to remain open. Their participation in two virtual focus group sessions Dec. 5 provides insight for the diocese as part of its proactive approach to parish planning and exploring the positive ways to move forward.
This article is the third in a periodic series on the diocese’s effort and a lead up to the Feb. 3 visit that Bishop Dennis Walsh and Ebener will make to Ottumwa. The two parishes there, St. Mary of the Visitation and St. Patrick, have clustered and are now exploring a merger.
“We want to learn what it’s like from your experience being in a cluster. The cluster is where you maintain your separate parish identity but share one pastor,” Ebener said during his introduction for the first focus group, 16 Catholics from the clustered parishes in northern Clinton County. The five parishes — Our Lady of the Holy Rosary-Lost Nation/Toronto, Assumption & St. Patrick-Charlotte, St. Patrick-Delmar, Immaculate Conception-Petersville and Ss. Mary & Joseph-Sugar Creek — share pastor Father Robert Cloos and Deacons Jeff Schuetzle and Andrew Hardigan.
Collaboration and communication
“I think it’s fantastic!” Chris Meyer said of the Clinton County cluster. “It’s a wonderful combination of people, of friends, of sharing. It’s great to have a pastor who puts up with everyone’s needs,” added Meyer of the Lost Nation/Toronto parish.
For fellow parishioner Linda Sander, being part of a cluster “is an opportunity to meet people I wouldn’t have otherwise. They are friends that stick with you.” She attends Mass at the different parishes within the cluster.
“We’ve accepted the fact that we wouldn’t survive in a small town (without being part of a cluster),” said Anne Farrell Peterson of the Delmar parish. “It’s letting each parish maintain its identity. … We know each other in these communities.”
The cluster shares an evangelization committee, which participants praised. “I’d like to think our main goal is faith formation in our Church and I think that’s what helps make it run smoother,” Sander said. “The more in touch we get with our own faith, the more willing we are to share it with others. … We want to share our faith and build everyone else’s faith along with it.”
A retreat during Advent and one during Lent, involving children and adults, is a centerpiece of the evangelization committee’s efforts. “The key is that the kids are at the basis of it,” Meyer said. “We’re encouraging children to carry on the tradition and to be a part of this and know what we’re about.”
Finance council meetings are separate, Dave Roling, a member of the Charlotte parish, said in response to a question from Ebener. Parish councils/finance councils meet as a cluster twice a year. At the cluster meetings, “Father looks for input from us,” said Larry Banowetz of the Petersville parish. “Everybody is so cooperative, that’s what makes it great and Father Cloos does a fantastic job,” said Bill McDonald of the Charlotte parish.
“In Delmar last year, we had to put a new furnace in, so we had some individual meetings outside of the cluster meeting with our finance council and parish council to fine-tune what we were doing,” said Doug Goodall of the Delmar parish.
Open communication is essential, the parishes’ representatives said. Some of the important things to share are Mass times, holiday Masses and special occasions in each parish, Meyer said, along with any pressing issues. “If there is an issue in one parish, we will discuss it and we come to a mutual agreement,” said Goodall.
“We also have ‘sidebar meetings’ after Masses,” Father Cloos said. “When there’s an issue we just get together after Mass and talk about it. They tell me what direction they’re going in and just keep me in the loop.”
Ebener asked about other ways in which the cluster’s parishes support their pastor. “In reality, all Father has to do is ask and the whole cluster gets behind him,” Goodall said. “Whatever Father wants, we bend over backwards to try to make it work. And we do it as a cluster … we all get together and do it to make it work.”

Catholics pray the Stations of the Cross during a Lenten retreat at St. Patrick Parish in Delmar March 6, 2024.
Second focus group’s experiences
Four parishioners from two different clusters of parishes participated in the second focus group. Three of the four participants belong to the Holy Trinity Parish-Keota, St. Mary Parish-Sigourney and St. Joseph Parish-North English cluster. They share a pastor, Father Robert Lathrop. The fourth is a member of St. Mary of the Visitation Parish-Ottumwa, which clusters with St. Patrick Parish-Ottumwa and St. Mary Magdalen Parish-Bloomfield. They share a pastor, Father Joseph Sia and parochial vicar Father Ben Synder. That cluster also has a Catholic elementary school.
“We’ve been clustered for a number of years,” said Dianne Conrad of Holy Trinity. “The new thing was adding North English within the last year. It involves some cooperation,” she said, such as alternating the Saturday night Mass schedule.
The parishes feel blessed that retired diocesan priest Father David Wilkening, who lives in North English, celebrates Mass as needed, which is a big help to Father Lathrop. “I like that the parishes are clustered,” Conrad said. “Sixteen years ago, when they closed Clear Creek, we had so many people leave. Rural parishes are different than city parishes … farm families aren’t as mobile,” she said. “You have the baptisms, the weddings and the funerals and the cemetery with the church, and the families have been there for 100 years.”
Sharing a pastor requires compromise. “We always loved the 5 o’clock Mass,” Conrad said, but parishioners had to accept that it is not possible for all three parishes to have a Saturday night Mass. “Keeping an open mind is the biggest thing and just looking at the bigger picture,” Matt Ives of St. Mary-Sigourney said. “We’re fortunate to keep celebrating Mass here, have the church available, be able to attend any of the other (churches) based on what you prefer.”
Ana De La Torre, co-director of religious education for Ottumwa Regional Catholic Religious Education (ORCRE), said she has to find the right time and the right moment to talk with her pastor to accommodate his busy schedule. However, she feels that clustering has “made such a big impact in our community as to being able to connect with the other parishes and other Catholics in our hometown … I feel like slowly we’re becoming united.”
She said the cluster has introduced a family formation night for religious education. “It’s been going great. The last two meetings had over 100 families. I think it’s a great opportunity. People have already saved that night for religious ed, so now the parents also come, not just the kids.”
Ives of the Sigourney parish said he would like to see more collaboration of that kind in the Keota-Sigourney-North English parishes. “I think it would be helpful for people, regardless of where they’re at in the county, to see that we’re coming together. A lot of people like the independent aspect of things but at the same time there’s more strength in numbers.”
Ebener asked how parishioners support their pastor. “We’re always looking for more people to raise their hands,” said Mary Sue Voutrebek of the Keota parish. “It would help Father get acquainted with these people, too,” she said, adding that administrative work keeps him tied down. “Anything we can do to help him …”
De La Torre said Father Sia is doing a wonderful job keeping communications open among the committees. She is grateful for his assurance that the parishes are not closing. Ebener said that he and Bishop Walsh are traveling to Ottumwa Feb. 3 to reinforce that message.
(Diocesan reporter Lindsay Steele provided transcription of the Zoom recordings.)