The Church of St. Joseph (commonly called St. Joseph's Church) is a Roman Catholic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

located in the Village of Bronxville in

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. Officially founded as a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the borough ...

in 1922, the Church of St. Joseph consists of the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities ...

, adjacent

parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parishes, in religion ** Parish churches, also called parochial churches * Parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and ...

St. Joseph School,

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

, and parish center. It serves residents of Bronxville as well as residents of nearby neighborhoods in Eastchester and

Yonkers Yonkers () is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. Developed along the Hudson River, it is the third most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City and Buffalo. The population of Yonkers was 211,569 as enum ...

. St. Joseph's has a permanent chaplain to serve the needs of nearby

Lawrence Hospital NewYork-Presbyterian Westchester (formerly NewYork-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital, and Lawrence Hospital Center before that) is a division of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, located in Bronxville, New York. It is a 288-bed general hospital providin ...

History

The Church of St. Joseph began as a mission in Bronxville by neighboring Church of the Immaculate Conception of Tuckahoe in 1905. Having no dedicated structure, masses were celebrated in the ballroom of the illustrious Hotel Gramatan by Immaculate Conception pastor John McCormack who traveled by horse each Sunday. The first masses were attended by only seventeen families. In 1906, the mission purchased a former Bronxville schoolhouse on the corner of Park Place and Kraft Avenue, converting it into St. Joseph's Chapel. The once-small Bronxville Catholic community grew rapidly. In 1922, the mission was elevated to an official parish of the archdiocese by Patrick Cardinal Hayes, Joseph L. McCann its first pastor. The church quickly outgrew its home and began construction on the present-day church building on the corner of Kraft Avenue and Cedar Street, having raised $50,000 over the preceding four years. The new building was designed by Yonkers architect William H. Jones in the

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Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style, constructed from stones quarried locally in Westchester. In 1927, the church was dedicated by Hayes and was completed in 1928. The second pastor, Francis X. Scott, oversaw the opening of the school in 1951. Joseph Moore led the parish's transition following the

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. Under Patrick J. Sheridan and James Connolly, the church and rectory were renovated and a pipe organ was installed in the church, as the staff was expanded. A parish center was constructed in 1986, which replaced the limited space of a previously used house on Meadow Avenue. During their time of residence in Bronxville, the

Kennedy family The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy bec ...

attended St. Joseph's Church. The young

Ted Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

was an

altar boy An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up the b ...

at St. Joseph's Church and in 1957 was married there to his first wife Joan by Cardinal Francis Spellman. St. Joseph's celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1972 with Terence Cardinal Cooke and Theodore E. McCarrick (who would later become a Cardinal and

Archbishop of Washington The Archdiocese of Washington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its territorial remit encompasses the District of Columbia and the counties of Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, ...

) in attendance.

Parochial school

St. Joseph School opened on September 10, 1951, adjacent to the church at 30 Meadow Avenue and was staffed by the Adrian Dominican Sisters, while operated by the parish. Cardinal Spellman dedicated the school on October 7 of that year. Msgr.

Patrick Sheridan Patrick Joseph Thomas Sheridan K.H.S., K.M., (March 10, 1922 – December 2, 2011) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York from 1990 until his retirement in 2001. Biograph ...

(a future bishop) oversaw the start of construction in 1985 of the parish center, which included a gymnasium and additional space for teaching and offices, with the dedication by John Cardinal O'Connor occurring on September 27, 1986. St. Joseph School consists of an upper and lower school of grades

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

through

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. It was presented with a

National Blue Ribbon Award The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a United States Department of Education award program that recognizes exemplary public and non-public schools on a yearly basis. Using standards of excellence evidenced by student achievement measures, ...

by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

in 2010. The school's facilities are used also for the CCD religious education program for students who attend secular schools. St. Joseph School has an active Mothers' Club and Men's Club. Many students who graduate go on to attend local Catholic high schools in Westchester County and

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of counties in New York, origin ...

. As of 2015, 239 students attended the school.

List of pastors

In chronological order, the following

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particul ...

have served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and A ...

: # Rev. Joseph L. McCann (1922–1942) # Rev. Francis X. Scott (1942–1967) # Rt. Rev. Msgr. Joseph P. Moore (1968–1980) # Rt. Rev. Msgr. Patrick J. Sheridan (1980–1985) # Rt. Rev. Msgr. James Connolly (1985–1998) # Rt. Rev. Msgr. James F. Doyle (1998–2013) # Rev. Peter McGeory (2013–present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Joseph, Church of Roman Catholic churches in New York (state) Gothic Revival church buildings in New York (state) Churches in Westchester County, New York Christian organizations established in 1922 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Roman Catholic churches completed in 1928 Bronxville, New York Stone churches in New York (state) 1922 establishments in New York (state) 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States