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    • About Us

    Vision

    To inspire, supply and support faithful people and their communities.

    To inspire, supply and support faithful people and their communities.

    Mission

    Build strong partnerships with people of faith by loyally providing religious products and services required to fulfill their missions.

    Build strong partnerships with people of faith by loyally providing religious products and services required to fulfill their missions.

    Services

    We offer services and products to support church and school communities, religious organizations, those in religious life and the general public through our Church Supply department, website, retail store and catalogs.

    We offer services and products to support church and school communities, religious organizations, those in religious life and the general public through our Church Supply department, website, retail store and catalogs.

    Guiding Principle

    St. Patrick’s Guild is committed to being a partner in faith to share the love of God in this world.

    All Are Welcome!
    St. Patrick’s Guild is committed to partnering with all faithful people regardless of religion or denomination. Our goal is to share the love of God in this world.

    Our founder, Bob Doran, shortly before
    starting St. Patrick's Guild.

    Bob with his family on his mother's front
    steps - the basement where the guild began!

    Our 1949 Storefront; we're still at the same
    location!

    When Bob tragically passed away in 1972,
    his son Mike took over.

    St. Patrick's Guild joins the National Church
    Goods Association (NCGA).

    Tim, Mike's brother, and wife Barb became
    our new owners in 2004.

    Norma Doran, Bob's wife, passed away in
    2019.

    Bob Doran co-founded The Catholic
    Athletic Association (CAA) in 1948.

    OUR STORY

    When God calls, answer “Yes!”

    The year was 1947 and Bob Doran was a 24 year old WWII veteran, newly married, and working at the St. Paul Catholic Youth Center- when local priests in St. Paul, Minnesota approached an unlikely soul to meet their need for supplying church pamphlets, Bob said “Yes!”

    Bob cared deeply about the people of his community and their needs so he couldn’t resist the challenge of stocking the racks in the back of the churches; thus St. Patrick’s Guild was born.

    The basement of Bob’s mother’s house provided a humble beginning for Bob’s company. “St. Patrick’s” was chosen because of Bob’s Irish heritage, and “Guild” because he valued working with a team of people united towards a common goal. Soon Bob had over 100 churches purchasing his pamphlet rack service. Restocking the racks and collecting the coin box money provided a weekly exchange for Bob and his church partners that strengthened their relationships.

    Bob took a leap of faith in 1949 when he incorporated St. Patrick’s Guild and opened a 1,000 sq. ft. store at the location of 1554 Randolph Avenue in the Highland Park area of St. Paul.

    Bob’s faith was well placed and his business grew enough to add a Church Goods annex in an adjacent home. This doubled the store size in 1958. His next leap of faith occurred in 1960 when Bob opened a Minneapolis store that flourished; however, when Vatican II arrived in the mid 60’s, sales stagnated for many Catholic stores. Bob had the heart to face the change and closed both his Church Goods annex and Minneapolis stores.

    As every family knows, life involves sudden turns that require much faith to navigate. The Doran family faced such a time in 1971 when Bob died at the early age of 48 leaving behind his beloved wife Norma and their 7 children.

    His oldest son, Mike, then had a call to answer of his own- he too said “Yes” to taking up the reins of Bob’s rich legacy and the next the chapter of St. Patrick’s Guild began.

    Over the next 30 years, Mike expanded the company by opening multiple branch locations including a store in the new Mall of America. He also co-founded Irish Indeed, an Irish imports company which today, has merged back in with St Patrick's Guild giving us a strong Irish presence in store and online.

    The 80’s and 90’s brought growth to St Patrick’s Guild especially in the Church supply business. Many key employees were also hired in the early 80’s including Mark DePalma and Mike’s younger brother Tim.

    Mike Doran grew St Pats to a more regional and national level as the internet started and our world became smaller. The company aligned itself with The National Church Goods Association (NCGA) Mike met some lifelong friends in Dan Stutte from St Louis and others. They formed a buying group of four stores called the St Louis Catalog Group and today, it is going strong with now six companies and the next generation leading the way.

    After 33 years as president at St Patrick's Guild, Mike decided it was time for another chapter to begin. In 2004, Mike and his wife Jean sold the company to his brother Tim and his wife Barb. The early strategy was much the same - continue the company’s strong church supply business, operate multiple branch stores, and a strong website for inspirational shopping. However, the great recession of 2008 changed everything quickly.

    Tim closed the branch outlets and consolidated in the newly renovated St Paul location. Servicing and supplying area churches continued to be the foundation of the St Pats story. As the internet continued to gain prevalence, St Pats shifted their focus to becoming more widely accessible on the web. St Pats launched a new website in 2015 and then moved to a more advanced web platform in 2020.

    We lost Norma Doran, founder Bob’s wife; Mike and Tim’s Mom in 2019. Many life long employees are retiring or cutting back hours. To all of those who have worked at St. Patrick’s Guild loyally for so many years, we are extremely grateful. Thank you for continuing the legacy. Tim’s son Rob is now in the business full time and he, family friend Matt Hambidge along with many others are more than capable of carrying on our great story. To you, our faithful customers - we wish to say thank you. Without you, there is no story.

    In 1948, one year before launching St Patrick’s Guild, Bob Doran, John Hajlo and Father Otto Neudecker founded the Catholic Athletic Association (CAA). Bob loved sports and envisioned an after school program whereby area youth would compete, make friends, stay busy and get some physical activity - there were no programs like this to speak of. Today, the CAA still thrives and along the way, Mike Doran and Tim Doran have both served as President and Tim is still an active board member.

    St Patrick’s Guild is proud of its relationship with the CAA and values tremendously what they do for our area’s youth and their families - you can see more at stpaulCAA.org.

    “I understand now one of the reasons your company has been in business for years; it is your excellent customer service."

    Marcianne Wilkes