Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Trenton will celebrate its 150th anniversary this year, commemorating a significant milestone in its long history of serving the community.
Kansas City-Saint Joseph Bishop, the Most Reverend James Johnston, will offer a Votive Mass of Saint Joseph on September 6 at 6 p.m. The mass will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the consecration of the first parish church of Saint Joseph’s Parish on September 6, 1874. While the parish was canonically erected a few years earlier, this date is being celebrated as its sesquicentennial.
The history of Catholic liturgies in Grundy County dates back to January 1868, when Father John Joseph Hogan visited Edinburg. Later that year, Hogan was appointed and consecrated as the first bishop of the newly erected Diocese of Saint Joseph. In the fall of 1872, Bishop Hogan directed Father James Kennedy to establish a parish in Trenton, with the first liturgies taking place in the home of Joseph McMullen on Prospect Street.
The first church for the parish was built at the intersection of Chestnut and West 14th streets. Constructed in the Gothic style and made of wood, it was considered the oldest building in Trenton as of 1908. The current parish church and rectory, the third in the parish’s history, began construction on September 18, 1964, and the building was dedicated on March 21, 1965.
Following the Votive Mass on September 6, a dinner will be held in the Parish Hall, providing a time for parishioners and community members to gather and celebrate this historic occasion.
