Sts. Joseph & Paul Catholic Church at 609 East 4th Street in Owensboro is known for bilingual worship, a steady calendar of prayer and sacraments, and service that reaches neighboring families and partners abroad. English Mass is celebrated at 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Sunday, with Spanish Mass at noon, while a 5:30 p.m. Mass is held Monday through Friday. The parish also supports children's formation, Spanish-language ministry, older adults, Catholic men, people experiencing homelessness, and a mission relationship with St. Joseph Parish and School in Lalomas, Haiti.
English and Spanish Mass on East 4th Street
Mass is central to regular parish life. Saturday's 4:00 p.m. Mass is in English. On Sunday, English Mass is celebrated at 8:00 and 10:00 a.m., followed by Spanish Mass at noon. The parish celebrates 5:30 p.m. Mass from Monday through Friday in English. This mix gives worshippers a simple weekly pattern while making the Sunday noon celebration a distinct expression of the parish's Spanish-speaking community.
On holy days, the parish celebrates a vigil Mass at 5:30 p.m.; on the day itself, Mass is at noon and 5:30 p.m., with a 7:30 p.m. Spanish Mass. Each weekend Mass has 30 volunteers serving. Those roles include hospitality and welcome ministers, lectors, altar servers, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, sacristans, liturgical coordinators, cantors, instrumentalists, choir members, children's liturgy ministers, and a bus driver. Music roles extend to adult, funeral, youth, and handbell choirs. The roster joins hospitality, sacramental service, music, children, and transportation in the work of worship.
Thursday Prayer and Reconciliation
Thursday is a particularly full day in the parish's spiritual routine. Reconciliation is celebrated at noon and 6:00 p.m., with additional communal celebrations during Advent and Lent. Confession is also available by appointment. The church remains open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. for Eucharistic Adoration, with the exposed sacrament present for devotion and personal prayer. Individuals may sign up for a particular hour or come as their schedule permits.
At 7:00 p.m., Thursday includes a Spanish Holy Hour from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday also carries a weekly Vocation Tuesday gathering with a 6:30 p.m. holy hour and confessions, followed by Mass at 7:30 p.m. The regular weekday pattern gives room for Scripture, penance, silence, adoration, and Eucharistic celebration.
Sacraments at the Center of Parish Life
The parish describes the sacraments in terms of God's grace, Christ's presence, and the community's continuing mission. Each one marks a particular moment in the Christian life.
Baptism and First Eucharist
Through Baptism, a person is freed from sin and reborn as a son or daughter of God, incorporated into the Body of Christ, and made a sharer of the Church's mission. Infant Baptisms may take place during or immediately following Saturday or Sunday Mass. Parents prepare through a class held by appointment. First Reconciliation precedes First Eucharist, and the parish celebrates First Eucharist on a Sunday after Easter with children in second grade.
Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation
Reconciliation is an honest confession of sins that reconciles a person with God, restores grace and friendship, breaks the power of shame and hurt, and revitalizes relationships within the faith community. The Eucharist is a prayer of Thanksgiving in which Christ becomes present to nourish the faithful and is the source and summit of the Christian life. Confirmation strengthens the commitment to Christ made at Baptism and seals the confirmand with the Holy Spirit. It is normally celebrated in seventh or eighth grade or at the Easter Vigil.
Marriage
The Bible describes God's plan for marriage as a grace for a happy life and a sign of Christ's faithful and fruitful love for the Church, the "Bride" in the biblical image. Couples preparing for marriage are asked to begin preparation and formation six months in advance. The parish's Couples in Christ retreat addresses communication, conflict resolution, parenting, blended families, finances, family of origin, and spiritual beliefs.
Anointing of the Sick and Holy Orders
The Anointing of the Sick extends spiritual strength, peace, and courage to people facing a serious health challenge or advanced age. It is celebrated at the 5:30 p.m. Mass on the first Friday of each month, communally two or three times a year, and by request at any time. Holy Orders consecrates Christian men for service to God, enabling them to proclaim God's love, lead the Christian community, and reach out in service to the world. The parish also provides information about the Permanent Diaconate Program and religious life.
Children, Faith Formation, and Catholic Education
On Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m., faith formation classes meet in the parish office. They are open to everyone but especially welcome students in kindergarten through eighth grade who attend public school. Volunteer roles at weekend Mass include a Children's Liturgy Minister, while music opportunities include a youth choir. Vacation Bible School is offered every summer.
Safe Environment training is required for adult volunteers who work with children. The Diocese of Owensboro also requires compliance on a five-year cycle for clergy, religious, employees, and volunteers working with minors or serving vulnerable adults. Adult formation service roles include the Children's Liturgy, First Communion team, Confirmation team, Vacation Bible School volunteers, and Youth Ministry volunteers.
The parish supports the Owensboro Catholic Schools System, where students receive daily religious instruction, attend weekly Mass, participate as liturgical ministers, and take part in schoolwide community service. The learning environment is described as disciplined and safe, with a family atmosphere, caring professional teachers, a challenging curriculum, and opportunities for spiritual and academic growth.
Becoming Catholic and Registering a Family
The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults is open to anyone interested in becoming Catholic or simply knowing more about the Catholic faith. The parish provides an online new-family registration form for those joining the church family. The form asks whether an adult is a practicing Catholic, returning to the Catholic faith, or non-Catholic, and offers choices for giving envelopes and announcements. The parish's stated aim is to welcome everybody to its church, and these paths provide practical ways for newcomers to begin participating in parish life.
Retreats, Devotionals, and Fellowship
Koinonia is the parish's annual Lenten retreat, held from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon at the parish facility with no overnight stay. Its focus on the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus is intended to help participants hear Christ's call, experience spiritual renewal or conversion, and draw closer to Christ and one another.
Couples in Christ is a one-day retreat for couples preparing for marriage or married for either a short or long time. The pastor leads the retreat, and one-hour follow-up sessions continue through the year. Topics include communication, conflict resolution, parenting, blended families, finances, family of origin, and spiritual beliefs.
Young at Heart welcomes people age 55 and older and meets most months at noon in the parish hall for lunch, fellowship, shared wisdom, faith, and prayer. For personal prayer life, the parish offers Living Faith, a daily devotional with the day's Scripture readings and a reflection, along with seasonal devotionals during Advent, Lent, and Easter. The parish describes prayer as a way to know God and develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
Serving Owensboro and People Without Stable Housing
The parish's annual Block Party is held on the third Saturday of September. Modeled on an old-fashioned picnic, it is free and serves as direct outreach to lower-income neighbors. Food, clothing, household goods, shoes, health screenings, bicycles, toys, games, and other items are offered. The gathering brings practical support and a community picnic together.
St. Vincent de Paul helps distribute monetary assistance, food, clothing, shelter, and medicine to people in need. Its members follow the charisms of St. Vincent de Paul, work in pairs, and visit people in the community to try to meet the many needs of the poor. Another ministry serves St. Benedict's Homeless Shelter. One Sunday each month, parish volunteers prepare food and serve a meal to more than 60 homeless men. Volunteers may bring food prepared at home or accompany residents as companions.
The parish also recruits homebound and nursing-home Eucharistic ministers. Its wider volunteer life extends beyond worship: gardeners, plumbers, electricians, painters, decorators, and other willing workers help maintain and tend the parish's facilities. Outreach committees include the Block Party, St. Vincent de Paul, Haiti missions, Hispanic Ministry, and a food team for St. Benedict's Shelter.
Ministerio Hispano Across Daviess County
Ministerio Hispano helps care for Hispanic people in Daviess County and the surrounding counties. It seeks bilingual leaders who can provide formation and spiritual growth for adults, youth, and children. At certain times of year, the ministry also needs help with devotions and traditions within the Hispanic community. This ministry forms part of the parish's wider Spanish-language life, which includes the noon Sunday Mass and the Thursday evening Spanish Holy Hour.
Continuing Mission Partnership in Lalomas
The parish is twinned with St. Joseph Parish and School in Lalomas, Haiti. That relationship supports education, clean water, food, livestock, clothing, and shoes. Support can take several forms: sponsoring a child, financing a clean-water filter, donating clothing, shoes, medicines, and other needed supplies, or serving as a missionary on the annual fall mission trip. The annual trip offers another way to participate in the Lalomas ministry.
Knights of Columbus: Faith, Fraternity, and Charity
The Monsignor Braun Council of the Knights of Columbus meets in the Fr. Tucker Center classroom on the fourth Sunday of each month at 5:00 p.m. The worldwide fraternal organization is open to Catholic men and centers its work on Charity, Unity, Fraternity, and Patriotism. Through fundraising, members assist people who are poor, disabled, or unable to protect themselves, both locally and around the world. The council also seeks to help men become better husbands, fathers, sons, neighbors, and Catholics.
Each Lenten season, council members host a night of the Stations of the Cross. Their fundraising has also included a spring sausage sale after Sunday Masses, with proceeds directed to charitable outreach. These activities connect the council's values of faith and fraternity with service carried out in the parish and the surrounding community.
Stewardship of Time, Talent, and Treasure
The parish treats giving as an act of worship and connects it directly with sharing faith and caring for people in need. Its giving message begins, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be," from Matthew 6:21. Giving is described as a way to draw closer to God, express love for people, help provide critical care to those who are poor, and make it possible for people to hear the Good News of God's love.
Text, mobile, and online giving are available through the parish's giving options. Text gifts use 844-909-2742, and recurring monthly gifts can be set up by text or mobile. The Give+ app uses the 42303 ZIP code to select Sts. Joseph and Paul, while Vanco provides secure online giving with several donation categories.
The parish's stewardship ministry also asks families how they will share time and talent. Its four areas are Worship, Education, Social Concerns, and Administration. Service roles extend from the altar and choir to hospitality, children's liturgy, youth formation, school and parish activities, food preparation, building and grounds, and outreach. Prayer partners, Sacred Liturgy and Art and Environment committees, adoration substitutes, Stations of the Cross leaders, rosary leaders, choir and handbell positions, retreat team members, and First Communion and Confirmation teams add further ways to share time and talent.
Pastoral Team and Parish Office
Pastoral leadership at Sts. Joseph & Paul includes Pastor Fr. Jean-Rene Kalombo, Associate Pastor Fr. Mike Williams, Deacon John Cecil, and Deacon Chris Gutierrez. Patty Brown serves as Minister of Music, and the parish's many sacramental, music, formation, and outreach volunteers carry the ministry into worship and service.
The parish office is behind the rectory at 609 East 4th Street. It is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and closed from noon to 1:00 p.m. for lunch; the parish telephone number is (270) 683-5641. At 609 East 4th Street, Sts. Joseph & Paul gathers families, worshippers, volunteers, and neighbors in English and Spanish around the Mass, sacraments, prayer, formation, and service that shape its Catholic life.