In December of 1888, Father Michael Tierney of St. Michael Parish in Kingsley, began to offer Masses in Moville. The Masses were usually held in Catholic homes or the public school house until the first Catholic Church was built in 1892. Prior to that time, there are records that Father Gilchrist of Marcus visited Catholic families in Moville and offered Mass as early as 1884. Father Halpin also came from Early to offer Masses in private homes during the year of 1885.

Father Tierney and a committee of men bought an acre and one-fourth of land for $400. A church was built on the property in the fall of 1892. The exact cost of the building is not listed, but for the year of 1894, it is noted that the church property was assessed at $1600. The church had a mostly Irish membership of about 150 people. One of the early members of the church was John McDermott who named the town "Moville" after his birthplace in Moville, County Donegal, Ireland.

For the next 49 years, the Kingsley pastors traveled to Moville to serve their mission church on Sundays and Holy Days to offer Mass. In June 1941, Bishop Edmund Heelan established Immaculate Conception Parish in Moville and appointed Father Robert J. O'Reilly (1941-1951) as its first resident pastor. Father O'Reilly oversaw the purchase of a new rectory for $3,500.

In 1941, there were 29 families in the parish. During Father O'Reilly's pastorate, Sunday catechism classes were organized with the help of the Sisters of the order of Servants of Mary.

In February of 1951, Immaculate Conception Parish saw 11 pastors serving the parish for the next 30 years. These pastors were: Father Edgar Schleyer, Father Robert Dougherty, Msgr. Edward Vollmer, Father Harold Cooper, Father Gerald Wingert, Father Eugene Ceperley, Father Patrick Nooney, Father Gerald Fisch, Msgr. Leonard Ziegmann, Father Henry Weimer and Father William Devine.

A unique thing that the parish did in 1952 was help move and reconstruct the Annunciation Church from Sioux City after it received flood damage. Annunciation Church was moved to Moville, and rededicated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary by Bishop Joseph M. Mueller. At the same time, to accommodate the new church at its site on Fourth and Jones, the original church was moved to the center of church property to be used for educational purposes. It was renamed St. Robert's Hall after the first resident pastor.

During these 30 years, while all the pastors served a full-time pastorate at Immaculate Conception in Moville, many of them also served the diocese in other capacities such as the editor of The Globe, religious instructors at St. Joseph Nursing School and Heelan High School. Parishioners grew in number during this time and religious education classes began to be taught with lay teachers.

Msgr. William B. Bauer (1981-1992) oversaw the religious education students construction of a shrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the patron of the parish.

Plans for a new church plant were introduced by Msgr. Bauer which would include a church proper, dining hall and kitchen and religious education classrooms under one roof. This significant milestone for Immaculate Conception Parish saw parishioners becoming involved in a building fund to achieve this $985,000 structure goal.

The church was to be completed by Easter of 1993, and the generosity of the parishioners, who had collected $485,000, made this realization achievable. Part of the construction involved the purchase of an old Methodist parsonage which was remodeled and is now the rectory. During this time, the parish celebrated its 100th anniversary in October of 1992.

Father Richard Ries (1992-1994), Father Jerome Degen (1994-1996), Msgr. Roger J. Augustine (1996-2004), and Father Mark J. Stoll (2004-present) all succeeded Msgr. Bauer.

The new church was dedicated on June 27, 1993, by Bishop Lawrence D. Soens. During the time of Father Degen and Msgr. Augustine, the parishioners worked diligently to pay for the $400,000 owed after the dedication. Their efforts, along with the bequest of $113,000 from Msgr. Bauer, have accomplished their dream and goal.

There have been several vocations from Immaculate Conception Parish in Moville. Father Loren Andrews, 1982 and Brother John Lieber, 1990 are the two vocations from the parish.

Immaculate Conception Parish has a membership of 150 families with family addresses of Moville, Lawton, Climbing Hill, Bronson, Hornick, Anthon and Kingsley. Immaculate Conception Church, St. Michael's Church, and St. Joseph Church in Kingsley are affiliated in this Parish.