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About St Joseph

- Mission Statement:
  
  We, the Parishioners of St. Joseph Parish, by continuing to implement the Second Vatican Council will follow the way of
  Jesus Christ as professed in the Bible and Tradition.
  
  History of St. Joseph Church
  
  Nestled among giant oak trees, St. Joseph Church in Patterson has stood for a century surviving war, fire and hurricanes. On May 12, 1848, a trace of land, three-fourths of an arpent wide by five arpents long was purchased from Michael Hartman for the sum of $225 by a group of men acting on behalf of the Catholics in Dutch Settlement, Louisiana. Today, that purchase and the Church that was built on it is known as St. Joseph Catholic Church of Patterson. For the next fifty years a variety of priests of French and Irish backgrounds were appointed to St. Joseph. In 1895, Fr. Thomas Smith began the foundation for a new church, but died before it was completed. His successor, Fr. John Holtgreve completed the church which he himself designed. It was Victorian Gothic design with doubly sealed walls and had seating capacity of approximately 260. The new church was completed in time to celebrate the golden jubilee of the parish on May 29, 1898.
  
  There have been many changes and improvements to the original structure. In 1923, during the pastorate of Fr. James Gelebert, the rectory was destroyed by fire but the church and church records all escaped unharmed. In 1926, the church itself was hit hard by a hurricane. After both disasters, the structures were rebuilt and improved. Fr. Raymond Gobeil, who was an avid carpenter, made several improvements and additions to the parish. He installed air conditioning and built many of the furnishings including the spiral staircase which leads from the floor to the balcony.
  
  A Parish School of Religion building was erected in 1954 to which was added a second story in 1963. Two mausoleums were built in 1964 and 1972. A piece of land adjacent to the church was purchased from the Lampos family in 1972. A structure on the property was named in honor of St. Frances Cabrini who used to stay at the house as a friend of the Lampos’. Renovation continued under Fr. Joseph Stemmann and Fr. Rex Broussard with the installation of a new air conditioning unit, a new roof and the complete renovation of the church interior.
  
  Not only have the physical structures of the church grown, the parish has also enlarged in size. Originally part of the Dioceses of New Orleans, St. Joseph became part of the newly created Diocese of Lafayette in 1919. The parish boundaries originally extended from Centerville to Berwick. During the administration of Msgr. Raymond Gobeil, two new parishes were carved out of St. Joseph Parish - St. Stephen Parish in Berwick and St. Bernadette Parish in Bayou Vista. Despite the addition of two new churches the demand on Fr. Gobeil was still great. So in 1960, Fr. Oris Broussard was appointed as the parish’s first Associate Pastor.
  
  During the Pastorate of Fr. Rex Broussard, the parish was guided though the final liturgical reforms mandated by the Second Vatican Council. On Christmas Eve of 1981, fire once again destroyed the 60 year-old cypress rectory. A new rectory was constructed in 1983.
  
  In 1990, Fr. Michael Guidry came to St. Joseph Parish as Pastor. During this time the Parish Pastoral Council began discussions concerning partial restoration of the 100 year-old church. A restoration committee was formed and moved the project along until its completion in 1995.
  
  Msgr. Richard Greene became pastor in February 1998 and under his leadership, the full and active participation of the laity was emphasized in accordance with Vatican II church documents on The Role of the Laity in Parish Life. The role of the Pastoral Council was increased and numerous volunteers served on committees and filled the various roles of the laity in the community; such as Ministers of Communion, Altar Servers, Lectors and Ushers. Also during Fr. Greene’s tenure, the parish hall was completely renovated and expanded to include additional floor space, a commercial grade kitchen, expanded restroom facilities, custom designed mural and exterior serenity garden. The second floor classrooms were renovated and an elevator was installed to accommodate persons with disabilities. Fr. Greene was transferred to Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in New Iberia in July 2007 and was replaced by Fr. Louis Lam Vu.
  
  Fr. Vu was born outside Saigon in Vietnam on February 28, 1955 and came to the United States during the fall of Saigon. He served in several parishes in the Diocese of Lafayette before coming to St. Joseph. The hand painted artwork on the ceiling of the church was done after Fr. Vu’s arrival. Under his direction, cemetery improvements were also completed. Fr. Louis Vu died suddenly on April 16, 2010 in St. Joseph Rectory after a massive stroke. He was loved and will be missed by many.
  
  Fr. Timothy Richard was appointed pastor on June 22, 2010. Fr. Richard is a native of Prairie Ronde and the Opelousas area. Our parish was richly blessed to have Fr. Richard as part of our faith family for 5 months.
  
  Fr. Donavan Labbé took over as pastor on December 1, 2010. Born in Opelousas and a native of the Lafayette area, Fr. Labbé has served in many parishes throughout the Acadiana area with the most recent at St. Nicholas Church in Lydia. He was warmly welcomed by his new parishioners at a reception held in the parish hall on Sunday, December 12, 2010. After a short but blessed stay with us, Fr. Labbé was reassigned in July 2013 to St. Joseph parish in Parks, Louisiana. A piece of our heart goes with him.
  
  Fr. Bennerfield was appointed as paster of St. Joseph on July 1, 2013 and is still serving our parish today. Fr. Bennerfield was born and raised in Gretna, Louisiana and received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of News Orleans and his Maters in Cinical Psychology from Northwestern State University of Louisiana. After an additioanl four years of spiritual education at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Maryland, Fr Bennerfield was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Lafayette on June 5th, 1999. After serving our diocese in Eunice and Abbeville, Fr. Bennerfield came to us "via pirogue" from his 11 year dual pastorship role, serving both Catholic churches in Delcambre.
  
  Church Building Improvements
  
  New flooring and some fresh painting and staining in July 2014!
  A new railing was installed in the choir loft in October 2015 lest any of our spiritual songbirds fall from their perches in their heavenly realm.
  Currently, St. Joseph Parish is the main sponsor of the largest Life Chain in the area on Respect Life Sunday. Our St. Joseph Day celebration has returned highlighted by our magnificent St. Joseph Altar and day-long block party honoring our patron saint, while feeding hundreds the scrumptious Italian cuisine of our ancestors.
  Many of our parishioners can be found "on the bus" roaming the Catholic countryside on our semi-annual pilgrimages, and a much anticipated event is our Volunteer Christmas Party each winter.
  In between (and during) all of these events we cook and eat. Therefore, we're pleased to present to you our parish family cookbook of time-honored and treasured recipes. Enjoy!
  
  Where are we?