History

St. Joseph Parish was established by Bishop Francis Green of Tucson on August 18, 1969. Fr. John Cullinan was appointed as the first pastor. Sunday masses were first held in the cafeteria of Paradise Valley High School for about 300 families.

Ground was broken at a 10 acre site for a multi-purpose church building on Jan. 23, 1972 by Bishop McCarthy. When the multi-purpose building was completed in Oct. 1972, the facility included a church with seating for 500, parish hall, meeting rooms and a library. The rectory was purchased in Aug. 1993. Fr. Cullinan remained as pastor until 1995, when Fr. Frank Fernandez was appointed as the second pastor.

The parish completed construction on a new classroom building behind the church for Religious Education classes, Safe Environment training and prayer group meetings in June 2004. Part of the church Sacristy was converted into an Adoration Chapel in March 2005 and later enlarged in Aug. 2006.

The stained glass in the Church was restored in March 2006 and the pews were re-upholstered in March 2007. The Adoration Chapel suffered minor damage during a bad storm in Sept. 2008 and was again enlarged as repairs were being made.

Fr. Frank Fernandez served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish until July 2008. Fr. John Greb is the current pastor.

The parish has many ministries and organizations including Catechetical Ministry, Marriage Preparation, RCIA, Bible Study, Knight of Columbus, K of C Women’s Auxiliary, Sanctity of Life, SVDP, Band of Brothers, MOMS, Men’s Club, Seniors Group, Singles Souls, Boy Scouts, Healing Prayer, Charismatic Prayer and Bible Study.

The Parish currently serves 750 registered families.