Mission Statement

We, the people of St. Joseph Parish Family, a Roman Catholic faith community, began our journey as a Slovak ethnic parish and continue by reaching out to and welcoming peoples of all nationalities and cultures. We are genuinely committed to a vision of working together to build up the kingdom of God within us, trusting in the Spirit's guidance, believing in the goodness of one another and embodying the values of the Gospel.

Trusting in the goodness of God and in His ever-present love for us, we desire in everything that we do to praise and thank Him and to share His gifts with all in faith, hope and love.

History:

St. Joseph’s Parish began as a small community of 117 Slovak families in Endicott, who decided in 1918 to build a church of their own. They sought the help of the nearest Slovak parish of Saints Cyril & Methodius and its pastor Fr. Joseph Martinek.

From the memoirs of John M. Sochor we learn of Cyril Kotek from Moravia. Mr. Sochor writes, “When the parish of St. Joseph Church was in her infancy he graciously offered and let us have his McKinley Avenue vacant city lot as a loan to build our temporary home of the church.” Would be parishioners built a wooden church on the corner of McKinley and Greene (now Watson Boulevard). It was later moved to where St. Casmir’s stands today.

An older parishioner recalls the spirit of volunteerism when the roof was being put on and nearly completed. So many helpers had come to work on the roof, that it collapsed under their weight and the workers and boards slid into the church below. Such a humorous mishap only served to show how everyone wanted to be part of the effort. They made the benches, altar rail, confessionals and altar complete with decorations. Seating a hundred, the first Mass was celebrated here in 1923 by Fr. John Pochily, associate pastor of St. Cyril’s. By 1924 the group had chosen St. Joseph as their patron, and Fr. John was assigned as the first pastor.

Very soon the community would out grow these humble surroundings and with Fr. John, would plan the beautiful church of St. Joseph’s. The work of building the new church often paused for lack of funds, while these dedicated founders worked to meet the needs of the parish.

By 1928, the Church was assigned a new pastor, Fr. Florian Billy, the first of three brothers to serve St. Joseph’s. Fr. Florian was astute at gaining the support of local business men and worked hard with parishioners to revitalize the building campaign. In particular, George F. Johnson became much impressed with the parishioners initiative and industry and generously offering to match any individual contributions.

The parishioners worked around the clock to complete everything, even the landscaping. In May of 1930 the Bishop of Syracuse, Most Reverend J. Curley, dedicated the new church.

In 1998, St. Joseph’s parish celebrated their 75th annivesary. Joining the celebration where many dignitaries from the local community and the Diocese.

As of this year, St. Joseph’s has over 1,000 family members in our parish and continues to grow.