Immaculate Conception parish had its beginnings in 1900, at a boarding house owned by a German Catholic widow. The Catholic community of Indianola at that time was largely composed of newly arrived European immigrants, and Father Andrew Gmelch traveled from the Marquette Colonization Society of Merigold, MS, to serve them. The congregation soon outgrew temporary meeting spaces so they built a mission church, which was dedicated by Bishop John Gunn on October 14, 1917. 

 Father Bonaventure Bolda, OFM, was the founding pastor of Immaculate Conception. On two Sundays per month plus special holy days, he and other priests from the Franciscan order stationed in Greenwood served the congregation. Additional help came from the Sisters of Mercy in Greenville, who conducted summer Bible schools for parish children. Thanks to such ministry, the congregation grew from two dozen to nearly a hundred within a generation’s time. 

By the 1950s, Indianola’s Catholic community had expanded to include a second congregation. In 1958, Bishop Richard Gerow designated the two congregations of Immaculate Conception and St. Benedict the Moor as separate and distinct full parishes. Following this separation, the Franciscan Order withdrew in 1962 from serving the parish of Immaculate Conception, which led to ministry by a succession of diocesan priests. 

Because the congregation continued to grow, Father Patrick Curley, the first diocesan priest, supervised the construction of a new, larger church with a parish center and rectory. The new church, dedicated by Bishop