Father Joseph Christensen, FMI, established the Franciscans of Mary Immaculate on May 31st, 2011, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo, North Dakota. Upon establishment of the order, he has resided in Warsaw, ND, at St. Francis Friary. Father Joseph is the Chaplain/Spiritual Director for St. Gianna’s Maternity Home also located in Warsaw, ND. Ordained in 1997 in Fargo, ND, he hails from Essexville, Michigan, where he was raised by his parents, Virgil and Joyce, along with 12 siblings.

His previous assignments were at St. Joseph’s Church in Devils Lake, ND, Sts. Anne and Joachim Church in Fargo, and most recently Parochial Vicar at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo. As a Franciscan, Father Joseph is dedicated to the writings of St. Maximilian Kolbe and his Marian Total Consecration, and he also offers parish missions, retreats, days of recollection, spiritual direction, and Third Order Secular group facilitation along with his apostolic work at St. Gianna's Maternity Home in Warsaw, ND. Father Joseph is grateful to have the very fatherly and kind leadership of Most Reverend John T. Folda as Bishop. May God bless him abundantly in his episcopacy.