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

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located in the Village of Bronxville in

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. Officially founded as a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...

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

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

, adjacent

parochial Parochial is an adjective which may refer to: * Parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a ...

St. Joseph School,

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

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

Yonkers Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...

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

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 English

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

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

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. 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 County Wexford, Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P ...

attended St. Joseph's Church. The young

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

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, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up ...

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) 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 (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 cen ...

through eight. It was presented with a National Blue Ribbon Award by the

U.S. Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a United States Cabinet, cabinet-level department of the federal government of the United States, United States government, originating in 1980. The department began operating on May 4, 1980, havin ...

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 ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. 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 particular, ...

have served as

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

: # 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 (2013–2024) # Rev. William Cleary (2024–present) # Rev. Karen Valenti (Principal of St. Joseph School)

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