Community News & Events
Immaculate Conception
March
March is Foodshare month. For every dollar donated in the month of March, the Rice Food Shelf will receive allocation checks based on their total donations reported. Please consider a food or cash donation in the month of March. Baskets will be set up in the gathering space for your donations.
All Parishes
RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) / OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults)
RCIA to OCIA
In Advent, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops introduced the “Order of Christian Initiation of Adults” (OCIA) which is the revised process by which adults (anyone over the age of 7) will enter the Church or receive sacraments outside of the usual religious education program. This update to the former Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) comes with some notable changes. The most significant is that OCIA will take no less than one year for any person who is not already a baptized Christian. With this in mind, OCIA classes will begin the first week of Lent this year and continue until Easter of 2026. These classes will continue year-round and individuals are welcome to join at any point, but the process will take at least one year from the time an individual begins. If you know anyone who is interested in entering the Church or receiving sacraments such as confirmation, please have them contact the ACC Office or crossrockaccpa@gmail.com.
All Parishes
Mark your Calendars… Future ACC Events
March 6: Rice - Fish Fry at 5:00pm - 7:00pm
March 6: Royalton - First Friday / Catholic Night Out beginning with confessions at 5:00pm
March 6: Bowlus - Stations of the Cross at 7:00pm
March 8: North Prairie - Prayers at 6:00pm
March 9: Royalton - Knights of Columbus council meeting at 7:00pm
March 10: Royalton - Stations of the Cross and more at 9:30am
March 13: Rice - Fish Fry at 5:00pm - 7:00pm
March 13: Rice - Stations of the Cross at 7:00pm
March 15: Bowlus - Ham Bingo begins at 1:30pm
March 15: North Prairie - Prayers at 6:00pm
March 17: Royalton - Stations of the Cross and more at 9:30am
March 17: North Prairie - Planning Meeting for 150th Anniversary Celebration at 8:00pm
March 20: Rice - Fish Fry at 5:00pm - 7:00pm
March 20: Opole - Stations of the Cross at 7:00pm
March 21: Rice - Women's Lenten Retreat from 9:00am - 3:30pm
March 22: North Prairie - Prayers at 6:00pm
March 22: Rice - High School Youth at 6:00pm - 8:00pm
March 24: Royalton - Stations of the Cross and more at 9:30am
March 27: Rice - Fish Fry at 5:00pm - 7:00pm
March 27: Royalton - Stations of the Cross at 7:00pm
March 30: Rice - Adoration Hour from 6:30pm to 7:30pm
March 31: Royalton - Stations of the Cross and more at 9:30am
July 24 - 26: Steubenville Retreat - Sign up sheets available in back of ACC churches
All Parishes
Cross Rock ACC Board Members
St. Stanislaus, Bowlus: Gene Bechtold and Dave Waletski
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Opole: Katie Knettel & Pat Maciej
Holy Cross, North Prairie: Peter Borash & Rich Zabinski
Immaculate Conception, Rice: Chris Van Heel & Natalie Schmitt
Holy Trinity, Royalton: Gary Opatz & Steve Bishop
All Parishes
Riverside Assisted Living in Royalton asked if we could get volunteers to say the rosary once a week. We are planning Thursday mornings at 9:00am. We would like 2 people to be on a schedule once a month. At this time we are short a few people to make this work. It would be great if you could help us out once a month!! Please give Patty Burggraff a call if you are interested in helping out or being a sub if needed. Call 320-360-3143 if you have any questions.
All Parishes
Rice Fish Fries are happening again during Lent. Worker sign up sheets are in the gathering space in the back of Rice church. Serving is from 5:00pm thru 7:00pm. Phones will be answered beginning at 4:30pm for take outs. Please come out and support us!
All Parishes
ACC Office Reminders:
*Office hours are Monday-Thursday 9:00am-3:30pm
Friday 9:00am- 12:oopm
*Bulletin Information: If you would like something in the bulletin, please have it to Anne Krystosek at crossrockoffice@gmail.com by Tuesday of the week that you want it in the bulletin.
*When writing a check for giving, please write it out to the individual parish, as the bank will NOT cash/deposit a check written to Cross Rock ACC
*If you are mailing something to one of the parishes please use the ACC Office Address. This assures that contributions and correspondence are taken care of in a timely manner.
Cross Rock ACC Office, PO Box 189, Rice, MN 56367
*Mass Intentions - $10.00 each. If you are writing a check for Mass Intentions for any of the parishes, the check should be made out to the individual parish. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to the office at 320-393-2725. THANK YOU for your help with this.
*If you have any changes to your household such as a phone # change, address change, member change please contact the office so we can update our programs.
*We keep children on their parents' registration until they are 24. If they want to remain members, they will need to contact the office or they will be taken off the census program.
All Parishes
Cross Rock ACC is looking for a Director of Liturgy (job description is on the Website) and we are also looking for a Bookkeeper.
If interested in either position or have questions, please contact Jean in the ACC Office.
Director of Liturgy is a Full Time Position.
Bookkeeper is a 25+ hourly position.
If you would like to apply for either position, please send or email your resume to the Central Office.
Holy Cross
March 17 - 8:00pm
North Prairie will host a Planning Meeting for the 150th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday, March 17th at 8:00pm in the North Prairie Church Basement.
All Parishes
Bowlus Prayer Line Leader: Rita Trettel
Royalton/North Prairie Prayer Line Leader: Janice Breth
Rice Prayer Line Leader: Colleen Burton
*Bulletin Prayer List: Let Jean in the Office know. We need permission from the individual or family to list in bulletin.
All Parishes
March 15 - 1:30pm
Ham Bingo will be on Sunday, March 15th at 1:30 in the St. Stanislaus Church basement in Bowlus. All are invited for a fun afternoon. If you are interested in helping or making a donation towards the Bingo, it is greatly appreciated. We are looking for workers, raffle prizes, monetary donations for the hams and food for the luncheon. Proceeds will go towards repairs of the Baptismal Font at St. Stanislaus Church. Please contact Rita Trettel at 360-6767 or Tom & Joanie Fussy at 232-7460.
Immaculate Conception
Rice Knights of Columbus Council 9138 is pleased to offer two $500.00 scholarships to high school seniors that are active members of Immaculate Conception Church, children or grandchildren of a member of the KofC Council 9138. The scholarships are for candidates who are attending a 4-year college or a 2-year technical / college during the 2026-2027 academic year. Applications are available in the gathering space at the Immaculate Conception Church or you can email Dan Durant at huskydog@jetup.net. Applications must be completed and returned by April 27, 2026.
Immaculate Conception
Calendar Cash Raffle Tickets are here and ready to sell. Please keep a lookout in your mailboxes for your tickets. If you don't receive your tickets in the next week, please contact the office. We will also have extra tickets in the office if you need more. Thank you to the generous donors, without them our raffle wouldn't be possible. This year we are able to offer 2 seller prize drawings, so if you sell 5 or more tickets, your name will go into a separate drawing.
All Parishes
In the coming months, we are looking to unify and come together not only in Christ but as a community and would like to stand behind a shield or symbol of our faith community. As a step in that direction we are looking to tap into some of our local artistic talent and hold a contest of sorts for a new parish logo incorporating the new paris name "Our Lady of the Holy Cross". The logo needs to be submitted electronically in a PDF format to our ACC office at crossrockoffice@gmail.com. We are looking to have them submitted by Monday, March 23rd. After that we will pick finalists and as an ACC, vote on the winner. We are looking to have some rewards for the finalists, as well as for the overall winner. So be creative and submit your entries!
All Parishes
Baptisms
Baptism Preparations
Weddings
Communion at Home
Home Visits
Funerals
Contact: Pastoral Associate crossrockaccpa@gmail.com or 320-412-9342.
All Parishes
Stations of the Cross
March 6 - 7:00pm Bowlus
March 13 - 7:00pm Rice
March 20 - 7:00pm Opole
March 27 - 7:00pm Royalton
All Parishes
Permission slips for the Steubenville Retreat are in the back of the churches in our ACC. Please pick one up for details about the trip. Dates are July 24th - July 26th.
All Parishes
1st Tuesday of Each Month @ 12:00pm
Rice Area Senior Citizens will meet on the first Tuesday of each month at 12:00pm at the Creamery Cafe in Rice. All are Welcome.