St. Joseph Parish has enlisted Parish Giving to provide its members with the opportunity to use Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) as an alternative method for giving. The Program is free of charge for parishioners.

Click on Parish Giving logo above to register for the program.

Parish Giving allows participants to donate a recurring contribution that is automatically transferred from your checking or savings account, or even credit card, on a monthly basis, and you select your own billing date. This Program can be utilized for your Sunday contributions, as well as any Holy Day Collection and all diocesan collections.

The use of EFT is not only time saving and convenient for you, but also allows our Parish to realize a more consistent level of support. By signing up for Parish Giving, you will know that you are doing your part to support the Parish even at times you are not able to be physically present to celebrate with the Parish Community.

Thank you for visiting the St. Joseph Catholic Church website!

Here at St. Joseph Church, we promote stewardship by encouraging parishioners to acknowledge that everything we have is a gift from God.  We provide opportunities through our many ministries to express our gratitude to Him by using our marvelous gifts of time, talent and financial resources to be true disciples of Jesus Christ.  This message is conveyed in the parish Vision Statement:

To develop a parish whose culture enables each person to embrace the Biblical Mandate:  "Not  to be served but to serve"  (Mark: 10:45), to love the Lord with all his/her heart, soul and being and to love others in truth, justice, and charity.

St. Joseph is a diverse parish of Catholics who are united in their Catholic beliefs.  Our desire is that all parishioners, as members of the body of Christ, will feel personally connected to the parish, thereby growing in love of God and each other.  If you are a member of the parish but have not been attending Mass, please know that you are missed and we encourage you to join us in the celebration of the Eucharist as well as other activities.

Advocacy for People with Disabilities

The Diocese of Harrisburg is committed to working toward full participation of people with disabilities and their families in all aspects of the life of the Church.  The Diocesan Office of Ministry for People with Disabilities initiated the Parish Advocacy Program in 2007 to enable parishes to better respond to the gifts and needs of their parishioners with disabilities. 

Chris Ransier has been appointed by Monsignor Lyons to serve as our Parish Advocate.  A Parish Advocate works with the pastor and also the Office of Ministry with People with Disabilities in the diocese.   This person strives to assist parishioners with disabilities to become full participants in the life of the church – spiritually, physically and socially. 

 If you or someone you know is limited in participation at St. Joseph Parish and this could be improved by special accommodations please let Chris know how we might work with you to remove roadblocks to full inclusion in our parish life.  She can be reached by calling the Parish Office at 637-5236 or at kwrcmr@comcast.net.  Please leave your name, contact information and the most convenient time for a call back.  

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion: if you have not yet completed the Diocesan re-training program, please be aware that there will be two remaining opportunities available this year (in our area):

(1) Tuesday evening, October 22, 2013, 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. at St. Joseph's Catholic Church; Facilitator: Deacon Tom Aumen, and (2) Saturday morning, November 16, 2013, 9:00 to 11:30 a.m. at the Xavier Center (St. Francis) 465 Table Rock Road, Gettysburg, PA.  Facilitator: Deacon Tom Aumen.  Please remember to register with the parish office at least 10 days prior to the re-training session. Direct any questions to Deacon Tom (637-5236).

Bible Study at St. Joseph Church -- 2013 - 2014, for additional information and registration form select the link below.

Order forms for 150 Anniversary St Joseph Crocks, select the link below.

Fr. Palomino was assigned exclusively to Hispanic Ministry in the Hanover area.  He is living at the St. Vincent de Paul Parish rectory, Hanover and ministering out of St. Joseph Church.  Fr. Ignacio will celebrate the 2:30p.m. Sunday Mass in Spanish at St. Joseph Church and will eventually expand the Hispanic Ministry to downtown Hanover, offering a Sunday morning Mass in the school chapel or gym. 

Father Stephen Kelley fell deeply in love with the Church when he was in his early 30s. A friend had challenged him about Church practices and teachings, and he didn’t have an answer to give. So he set out to find answers to those questions.

    “It ended up becoming a journey for me,” he said. “I came to understand that the faith makes sense when you understand how it is put together in one tapestry…. It is the avenue to some of the greatest joys that humanity can experience.”

    “The more I got into that, the more the vista opened up to what was possible,” Father Kelley said. “Once you get on that slope, you just want to keep going.”

    Father Kelley, who grew up in Lebanon, entered St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pa., from St. Patrick Parish in York when he was 35.

    His experiences of living and working on his own before entering seminary are ones that he can bring to his ministry as a priest, he said.

    “I’ve dealt with having to live on Ramen Noodles for months. I’ve dealt with the struggles of living paycheck to paycheck, paying rent,” Father Kelley said. “I’ve struggled with finances and I know how difficult things can be…. I have a real sympathy for people who, in their lives, had the bottom fall out.”

    Prayer has been critical to his formation, he said.  “The demand to become the person that we’re being called to be requires exponentially more prayer as we go on,” said Father Kelley, who has been assigned to serve at St. Joseph Parish in Hanover.

    “When we practiced for the Sacrament of Reconciliation and for the celebration of the Mass this past year, I got a real strong sense that once you get into ministry, you can’t fake it. You can’t give what you don’t have,” he said. “You have to be the priest. That has to be your existence. From my perspective, all bright and shiny at the beginning, I see a great challenge, and I can only hope through the prayers of many people that I can rise to meet that challenge.”

    The support he has received from the people of the diocese has been a blessing, he said, and he is ready to reciprocate that support as a priest.

    “I intend to live the vocation that God gave me, to serve his people wherever God puts me,” Father Kelley said. “I trust his will for me, and I will do whatever I can for the people that he puts in my care. It will be wonderful to give back for all that I have been blessed with.”

Excerpted from an article by Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness