St. Joseph, Weston-Super-Mare

Introduction

Saint Joseph's in Weston-super-Mare is the Mother Church of the Catholic community and one of the oldest in the Diocese of Clifton, built in 1858 when the nearest other Catholic church was eighteen miles away in Bridgwater.

History

The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Clifford in 1855 on land given by Joseph Ruscombe Poole. Fr William Pippet was the first priest-in-charge of St Joseph's from 1858. The chapels of Our Lady and St Joseph were added later, as were the presbytery and the sacristy. The panels in the reredos of the High Altar were painted by a monk of Farnborough Abbey to commemorate the centenary.

Parish life

The choir produced a CD to raise money for the organ that John Walcott had installed in 1979. The parish brings Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Anointing to the sick at home or in hospital.

St Joseph's church hall is available for private hire on a one-off or regular basis. The hall has a fully equipped kitchen with dishwasher, oven, crockery, cutlery and glasses included in the hire fee. The hall has disabled access and disabled toilet facilities.

A canon covers the three parishes of Corpus Christi, Our Lady of Lourdes and St Joseph's. The parish participates in the CAFOD Family Fast Day appeal with a collection at Mass.