A Parish Built on Railroad Tracks
St. Joseph Catholic Church has stood on East Broadway in Alliance, Ohio, since 1862, when Irish, German and French Catholic laborers settled the town to work on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroads. The earliest record of Catholic worship in Alliance dates to 1848, when a visiting priest held services in private homes. By 1858, thirty Catholic families had gathered here, and on May 9, 1859, Father E. W. J. Lindesmith rented Lamborn Hall on Main Street and prepared it as a temporary chapel. Two years later Father Hannin purchased two lots at the southeast corner of Market and Linden and built a small frame church, which was dedicated to the patronage of St. Joseph in 1862. Father Francis Maitrier became the first resident pastor of Alliance in 1866.
The parish grew with the railroad town for nearly eighty years before laying the cornerstone of the present church on the afternoon of Sunday, June 9, 1940. Inside the new building, craftsmen installed a remarkable reredos behind the main altar, an inlaid-wood panel made from more than fifty different woods gathered from every part of the world. Six scenes are depicted in the natural color of the woods alone, with no paint used: the Nativity, the Presentation in the Temple, the Annunciation to Joseph of the Flight into Egypt, the Flight into Egypt itself, the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes, and the Supper at Emmaus. The last two point directly to the Blessed Sacrament; the other four depict moments from the life of St. Joseph, the patron of the church, and gave the main altar its name.
One Catholic Community, Six Worship Sites
St. Joseph in Alliance is the historic anchor of what is today called the Catholic Community of Eastern Stark County, a single parish family that worships at six churches spread across Alliance, Sebring, Maximo and Louisville, Ohio. The shared mission is described under the heading Operation Nexus: to build bridges, heal old divisions, and foster true unity among all of the worship sites through shared prayer, collaborative service, and community celebration.
The other worship sites in the community are St. Ann Church at 323 South 15th Street in Sebring, St. Joseph Church at 12055 Easton Street NE in Maximo, Regina Coeli Church at 663 Fernwood Boulevard in Alliance, St. Louis Church at 300 North Chapel Street in Louisville, and Sacred Heart of Mary Church at 8267 Nickel Plate Avenue NE in Louisville. The community is led by Father Matt Humerickhouse as pastor, with Father Bob England serving as parochial vicar. Diocesan Pastoral Associates Amy Benedetti-Dike and Deacon Greg Wood, along with Deacon Randy Smith, assist across the sites. Each worship site maintains its own parish council, finance council and pastoral staff, but the weekend and weekday Mass schedule is published jointly.
Mass Schedule and Reconciliation at St. Joseph, Alliance
Sunday Mass at St. Joseph Church in Alliance is celebrated at 11:00 a.m. Weekday Masses are offered on Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. and on Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. A First Saturday Mass is also celebrated at 8:30 a.m. once a month. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is heard on Wednesday afternoons at 5:30 p.m. and by appointment.
Across the community, the full weekend schedule is: Saturday Vigil Mass at 4:00 p.m. at both St. Ann Church in Sebring and Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Louisville; Sunday Mass at 8:30 a.m. at St. Louis Church in Louisville, 9:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Maximo, 10:30 a.m. at Regina Coeli Church in Alliance, and 11:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Alliance. Weekday Masses rotate among the sites Monday through Friday, and the Friday 8:30 a.m. Mass is offered at St. Joseph Church in Maximo. Bulletins for all sites are posted through DiscoverMass.
Adoration at St. Dominic Chapel
Behind the church on East Broadway stands St. Dominic Chapel, home to one of the most extensive periods of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the area. Exposition begins at 9:00 a.m. on Monday mornings and continues without interruption through Thursday at midnight. The chapel is also used for First Friday Adoration at St. Ann Church in Sebring from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and at St. Joseph Church in Maximo from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on First Fridays. A short video on the parish site, titled "Eucharistic Adoration: Why I Love the Catholic Faith," introduces the practice to visitors.
Faith Formation for Children and Adults
Religious Education for parish children in kindergarten through eighth grade meets on Sunday mornings from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at St. Joseph Church in Alliance. Other sites in the community offer classes at related hours: St. Joseph Parish in Maximo serves grades K to 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m., St. Isidore Parish in Louisville covers grades K to 8 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., and Regina Coeli Parish serves grades K to 2 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. The Diocese of Youngstown requires at least two consecutive years of preparation for any child preparing to receive First Communion or Confirmation.
For adults, Bible Study is offered on Tuesday afternoons at 4:00 p.m., alternating monthly between St. Ann Church in Sebring and St. Joseph Church in Alliance from September through June. Each session walks through the upcoming weekend readings. The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (O.C.I.A., formerly R.C.I.A.) is available for adults preparing to enter the Catholic Church.
Lay Leaders of Prayer
Because ordained clergy cannot always be present at every gathering of such a multi-site community, the parish commissions Lay Leaders of Prayer for service periods of three years. These lay men and women lead Morning and Evening Prayer, Liturgy of the Word with or without distribution of Holy Communion, devotions, the vigil service and rite of committal from the Order of Christian Funerals, and, in an emergency, Sunday celebrations in the absence of a priest. The role was created to expand opportunities for communal prayer beyond what priests alone can offer. Several Lay Leaders of Prayer are assigned to St. Joseph Church in Alliance, including Suzie Dennis, Larry Gatts, Michael Johnson, Linda Schneider and Frank Greiner.
Parish Life on East Broadway
The St. Joseph Alliance Parish Advisory Council is chaired by Christy Ballor and includes Chris Cook, Suzie Dennis, Jim Edwards, Lynn Raber and Christine Robenstine. The Liturgy Committee is led by Linda Schneider, the Membership Committee by Suzie Dennis, and the Parish Facilities Committee by Jim Edwards. The parish also maintains a Financial Advisory Board chaired by Christine Robenstine and a Trust Committee chaired by Jim Edwards.
Two long-standing Catholic organizations are active at the parish. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is represented locally by Larry Gatts, and Knights of Columbus Council #558 is represented by Joe Kisik. Knights of Columbus Council #558 was originally organized in 1962 at St. Ann Church in Sebring under the direction of Father John Vasko and now serves the community.
The parish office is located in the Schwartz Center behind the church. Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (beginning in 2026), and the parish secretary is Barb Rogel. Matt Zeni serves as Coordinator of Religious Education. The mailing address is 427 E. Broadway St., Alliance, Ohio 44601, and the parish phone number is 330-821-5760.
St. Joseph Cemetery: A Sacred Trust Since 1868
Land for St. Joseph Cemetery on East State Street in Alliance was purchased in 1868, two years before the first recorded burial, that of two-year-old William McGrath, son of Michael McGrath, on February 2, 1870. The cemetery is described by the parish as "an extension of the local community of faith, a holy place of repose of the bodies of our beloved deceased, and a place of prayerful remembrance for the living."
Because the cemetery receives no church or diocesan funding, its upkeep depends entirely on lot sales, opening and closing fees, foundation fees and freewill offerings. A separate Cemetery Board meets at the parish office and includes Deacon Greg Wood, Jim Edwards (chairman), Sid Zufall, Dick Glasser, Dr. Rick Robenstine, Teresa Peters and Cathy Henderson. Plot inquiries and donations may be directed to the cemetery office at 427 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601, or by calling 330-821-5760. A companion cemetery, St. Joseph Cemetery in Maximo, is administered locally with its own committee.
Funeral Planning and Memorials
The parish has assembled an unusually thorough set of funeral planning resources. A Funeral Planning Sheet, a Funeral Music Selections guide, two sets of Prayers of the Faithful and a complete library of Catholic funeral readings are available online, organized by the standard Lectionary numbers. Old Testament options include selections from 2 Maccabees, Job, Wisdom, Isaiah, Lamentations, Daniel, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. New Testament readings are drawn from Acts, Revelation, Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Timothy and 1 John. Gospel options span Matthew through John. The parish also links to a National Catholic Register article on Vatican teaching that cremation is permissible under certain restrictions while the scattering of ashes is forbidden.
Memorial envelopes for Christmas, Easter, All Souls, Mother's Day and Father's Day may be requested through a special form, and contributions to the cemetery and other collections can be made online through the parish's ParishSoft e-giving portal.
Respect Life Ministry
The Respect Life Committee of the Eastern Stark County Region gathers on the third Thursday of each month at Regina Coeli Parish, 663 Fernwood Boulevard in Alliance. Its work is grounded in the U.S. Catholic Bishops' 2001 Pastoral Plan for Pro-Life Activities, which proclaims that human life is a precious gift from God and that society, through its laws and social institutions, must protect and nurture human life at every stage of its existence. Each year during Lent, prayer volunteers from the community stand witness for the unborn and their mothers at Planned Parenthood on Cleveland Avenue NW in Canton through the 40 Days for Life campaign. The Annual Life Chain is held on the first Sunday in October, when parishioners across the country gather to pray publicly for life.
Hearing Loops and Accessibility
St. Joseph Church in Alliance and Regina Coeli Church are both equipped with hearing loops for congregants who use hearing aids with telecoils. The hearing loop system transmits sound directly from the church sound system to the hearing aid, reducing background noise and clarifying speech and music for those with hearing loss.
Holy Relics on Display
Holy Relics on display at St. Joseph Church in Alliance include those of Blessed Stanley Rother, Saint John Paul II, Saint Teresa of Calcutta and Blessed Solanus Casey. Prayer cards for the Healing Novena for the Intercession of Saint John Paul II, the Express Novena of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, the Novena for the Intercession of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, the Novena for the Intercession of Blessed Solanus Casey and a Prayer for the Intercession of Blessed Stanley Rother are available through the parish site.
St. Ann Church in Sebring
Just south of Alliance, St. Ann Church at 323 South 15th Street in Sebring is the second-oldest parish in the community, founded in 1908 when Father Hopp celebrated the first Mass in Sebring in the Knights of Pythias Hall. Father Hanrahan built the original frame church, and in 1960 Father Petros saw the construction of the present modern church, which was the first church in the Youngstown Diocese to be completely air-conditioned. Its interior includes a sixteen-foot walnut cross with a five-foot carved corpus from Germany, eight stained-glass windows of antique hand-blown glass depicting scenes from the life of Christ, and communion rails and altars cut from Cold Spring granite. Weekend Mass is celebrated Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The parish secretary is Donna Miller; the music coordinator and choir director is Allyson Oyster; the organist is Carolyn Shreve.
St. Joseph Church in Maximo
St. Joseph Church in Maximo, a small community south of Alliance, was established in 1850 as a mission church of St. Louis and served for decades by priests from Harrisburg, Louisville and Alliance who traveled by horseback. It became an official parish in 1905 under its first resident pastor, Father Charles H. Gardner. The cornerstone of the present church was laid by Bishop Emmet M. Walsh on August 21, 1957, and the new church was blessed on September 28, 1958. A cemetery across the street holds the prominent Maudru family mausoleum, built in 1915 of eighty tons of Barre Vermont granite. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 9:00 a.m., and the parish office at P.O. Box 219, 12055 Easton Street NE, Maximo, Ohio 44650, is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Regina Coeli Church in Alliance
Across Alliance on the west side of Union Avenue, Regina Coeli Church was established in 1958 as the city's second Catholic parish to relieve crowding at St. Joseph. Monsignor John W. Cunningham, then pastor of St. Joseph, led its founding; Bishop Emmet M. Walsh blessed the new parish the same year. The parish school opened in 1957 with five grades and was taught by the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Akron. Regina Coeli School and St. Joseph School merged in 1972. The present church was remodeled and dedicated by Bishop James W. Malone on April 13, 1975. A shrine honoring the Blessed Virgin was added in 1980 and 1981. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 10:30 a.m., and the parish office is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
St. Louis and Sacred Heart of Mary in Louisville
Two churches serve the Louisville community. St. Louis Church at 300 North Chapel Street offers Sunday Mass at 8:30 a.m. Sacred Heart of Mary Church at 8267 Nickel Plate Avenue NE shares the Vigil Mass at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and hosts weekday Masses on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Together with the other sites, they complete the Catholic Community of Eastern Stark County's pastoral reach across Stark County.