St. Joseph the Worker

Parish Giving

MISSION STATEMENT

VIBRANT & ACTIVE
We are a Roman Catholic faith family in Chatham Illinois committed to proclaiming the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We live our faith with our words and through our actions.  Nourished by the Word of God and the Eucharist, we seek to become a place of mercy and hope where everyone is welcomed, loved and respected.

Parish Pastoral Council

The role of the St. Joseph the Worker Parish Pastoral Council members is to serve the pastor, provide channels of communication and cooperation to the pastor, staff and members of the parish, and provide support to the pastoral work of the parish.   By working together in community we grow in faith and fellowship.

If you have questions, concerns or requests about St. Joseph the Worker Church, your parish stewardship or activity committee, or as a parishioner, you are encouraged to contact the Pastoral Council Chairperson, or Vice-Chairperson.   

Chairperson, Pat Kornfeld,  kornfeld.pat@comcast.net

Vice-Chairperson, Debbie Shawgo,  debbieshawgo@gmail.com

BULLETINS

Let us remain in prayer for all those affected by the tragedy that occurred in Chatham on April 28th. May the deceased Rest In Peace; those injured continue to improve daily; all the families of children involved in any way know of God’s compassion. May God bless all of the first responders and others who assisted the families and the community.  And let us not forget to pray for the Marianne Akers family, that they may find peace and hope at this time.  

Join us for the Rosary at 5:30pm on Monday, June 9^th, followed by daily Mass at 6:00pm.

We are grateful to all the families who attend our Masses on the weekends.  There are a good number of young children who come, which shows our parish is growing and alive.  Seeing them and their parents celebrate is a true joy.

Just a reminder to parents of small children that we do have the Quiet Room available if any of your children are fidgety or in need of a quieter place.  This room enables you as parents to calm your child and still be able to hear the readings/prayers.  Also, this enables the assembly to do the same. 

On Sunday, June 29^th after the 10:30am Mass, a reception will be held in honor of Sr. Judy.  Sister will be leaving SJW parish at the end of this month.  We want to thank her for her many years as the Pastoral Associate here.  Please come and express your gratitude, share a story/memory, and have some good food.

The next TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) meeting is Sunday, June 15^th at 9:15am in the Resource Room. All St. Joseph parishioners are welcome and encouraged to attend!

Rosary and Game Time

Come and join us for a rosary at 11:00am, prior to our an afternoon of games on Wednesday, June 18^th, 12:30-3:30pm in Kollross Hall.  Bring a sack lunch to enjoy after the rosary and before games.  We will be offering card games, dice and board games.  You can bring a friend, learn a game, teach a game, or just sit, watch and visit.  Drinks will be provided. 

True North Vacation Bible School

This year’s theme is “True North: Trusting Jesus in a Wild World.”  VBS is open to all children age 4 (by 9/1/25) to present grade level 4 (entering grade 5). Registrations received after May 30^th, 2025 will be accepted as space allows.

 VBS is $10.00 per family.

Forms can be found HERE or in the Parish Office; Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:00pm

Vacation Bible School Needs

This year, we are planning on over 80 children attending Vacation Bible School.  We need your help to make VBS a success.

Donations: Please select a colored tag (donation requests) off the bulletin board in the north hallway by the restrooms and return all donated items to the kitchen (WITH THE TAG ATTACHED).  Items are due by June 15^th. Thank you for any help you are able to offer in this area!

 Buddy Coloring pages are available for all children on the table under the bulletin board. Please return those for us to use to help decorate our space throughout the week.

Operation Kid-to-Kid is our service project within Vacation Bible School which will give children in the Springfield/Chatham area school supplies for the beginning of the school year. The items requested this year are: backpacks, baby wipes, Clorox wipes, glue bottles (4 ounce-Elmers), index cards, white board erasers, pencils, Scotch tape, sharpies (fine or ultra fine), 3 subject wide-ruled spiral notebooks, glue sicks (Elmers), highlighters (yellow), pink erasers, and loose leaf paper (pkgs of 100 to 150 wide-ruled and college-ruled). Please drop items off in the hall by the restrooms. We will gather items until Friday, June 27^th.  Thank you for your donations!

Registration for the 2025-2026 Faith Formation year is underway.  We look forward to working alongside families to help them grow strong in their faith.  If you have a child ready to enter kindergarten or are new to the parish, please let us know so that we can be sure to get you on our registration list.  

All children, grades K-8, will attend Faith Formation on Sunday mornings from 9:15-10:15am.

Tuition for Grades K-8 is $60 for one child and $100 for two or more. Fees are due by August 1, 2025. Please note: no child will be denied due to inability to pay.   Please contact Janice Anderson with questions.

Forms can be found HERE  or in the Parish Office; Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4:00pm.

SCRIP Fundraising Program

SCRIP is just another name for gift cards.  Our preschool purchases gift cards from Great Lakes Scrip (a clearing house offering hundreds of different gift cards) at a discount of 1.5-20% depending on the business.  Gift cards are sold to you at face value.  Orders are placed on the 1^st of each month, or more often depending on the number of orders received.  Please consider using this program.   You can find the order form HERE

Please check-in at the office before entering the building during work hours.  We need to know who is in the building in case of an emergency.

Preschool Registration for Fall 2025

Preschool registration for the 2025-2026 school year is open to all!  Parents of current students will receive first priority; then, alumni families; then, parish families; and then, the general public.  Please be sure to register soon to guarantee your spot for the next year.  You can visit our webpage or come into the parish office for a Registration Form. 

Knights of Columbus 4179 News

If you are interested in joining the Knights of Columbus, please contact: Sean Fink at 217-415-1147. 

Rosary Group

St. Joe’s Rosary Group Prayer Session is available to all parishioners who want to praise and worship God, to pray for St. Joseph the Worker Church, family, friends and loved ones or to intercede for others.  We start praying the Rosary on Zoon at 4:15pm and finish all prayers around 5:10pm.  You can join through the Zoom Meeting ID: 509 233 2302  Passcode: Prayer, or you can call Pam Branham at 217-652-0246 for more details. 

Important News for Parents!!!

The Cry Room, or Quiet Room, in church is there for a very worthwhile purpose.  It is for a child who may be restless, crying, etc.  This space enables the child and parent to still be able to hear the Mass, yet not disturb the people around them in the main church proper.  But, this space is limited in size and in the number of people able to be accommodated.  Therefore, please do not use this space for any other purpose than stated above.  It is not a space for multi-members of a family to reside during Mass.  This limits other people from using the room.  Thanks for understanding. 

One of the beautiful ways we can keep a deceased loved one’s memory alive is through having a memorial set up at the time of their death.  A very nice example of such a memorial would be to have one for St. Joseph the Worker Parish.  People would then have the opportunity to designate SJW for a memorial gift.  At the time of a loved one’s passing, please consider having our parish as one of the memorial options. 

Please Note

If you are over the age of 21, are still living with your parents, and are gainfully employed, you should register as a member of the parish instead of continuing to be a part of your parent’s household.  This will make our records more accurate.

St. Joseph the Worker Preschool offers a 4/5 year old class that meets on M/W/F from 9:00am - 11:30am and a 3 year old class that meets on T/Th from 9:00am - 11:30am. Mrs.Jackie Viste is the Preschool teacher and provides fun, faith-based enriching activities to all of our students. She is assisted by her aides, parish members Mrs. Judy Gartland and Mrs. Melody Clark.

More information and all forms can be found HERE

To learn more about our Preschool Fundraisers click HERE