Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    St Joseph's Church

    5.0 (1 review)

    St Joseph's Church Photos

    Recommended Reviews - St Joseph's Church

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    14 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Verify this business for free

    Get access to customer & competitor insights.

    Verify this business

    St Francis Center for Renewal - Main Chapel - seats 100

    St Francis Center for Renewal

    4.0(1 review)
    2.8 mi

    A lovely, pastoral retreat center run by incredibly friendly and accommodating nuns. Beautiful…read moregrounds with wide open lawns rolling down to the Monocacy Creek. Fair warning: lots of crosses, statues, paintings etc. of Christ, the Virgin Mary, various saints (esp. St. Francis). If you're Catholic (our group wasn't) or you're not too bothered by all that, then this is a nice place to have a retreat, or probably even a wedding. The rooms were quiet and very comfortable, with two beds and a sink in each. Avoid the south-facing rooms in the summertime if you're sensitive to sound: the building's AC unit, in the south parking lot is very noisy. The shared bathrooms were very clean. A good range of comfortable, carpeted, small to mid-sized break-out rooms including chapels, a small library with a computer, a TV room with a video library. Wireless access throughout. The whole place felt warm and cozy, even though it's a 1950's style square brick building. The main manor building next door is far more architecturally interesting: the original old summer mansion built by a Bethlehem Steel magnate. The dining hall is run by an outside food service. Those folks are also very friendly and they tried really hard to be accommodating. The menu tended to be a bit simple, and heavy on the carbs and eggs, with very little vegetable protein. They did make tofu and other special request meals. If folks in your event don't eat meat, dairy, eggs, gluten, some combination of those, or have any other dietary preferences/restrictions/needs, bring your own food to supplement, or see if you can give them complete recipes in advance. Lots of birds and wildlife, esp. catbirds, robins, jays, deer and groundhogs, and some of the most amazing firefly displays I've ever seen. There was also a beaver and a muskrat in the creek. Railroad tracks across the creek seem to be used by trains less than once a day, and make for great walking if you can walk the tracks, and are really the only way to stroll along the creek, or through the small fragment patches of woods. Note: Google, Yahoo and some other services (including Yelp, initially, but not mapquest) incorrectly put this on the wrong end of Bridle Path Rd. St. Francis is on he south side of where the Monocacy Creek flows under Bridle Path Rd., WEST of Center St. (turn RIGHT if coming down Center St. from Rt. 22).

    From the owner: The mission of St. Francis Center for Renewal, Inc. is to glorify God and to witness to the Gospel…read moreby providing a Christ-centered environment of hospitality, caring and love as an oasis of peace and healing for all God's people. The Center, founded and staffed by the School Sisters of St. Francis, is built on the tradition of ongoing conversion of heart through prayer, reflection, liturgical celebration and contemplation. St. Francis Center for Renewal is located on 55 acres of natural beauty. The grounds, with wide open spaces for walking, are embraced by the gentle flow of Monocacy Creek.

    Photos
    St Francis Center for Renewal - 'Quilt Room'  - Small Conference/Break out Room

    'Quilt Room' - Small Conference/Break out Room

    St Francis Center for Renewal - Retreat Center Cafeteria is great for meals and crafting retreats!

    Retreat Center Cafeteria is great for meals and crafting retreats!

    St Francis Center for Renewal - Main conference Room - seats 75

    See all

    Main conference Room - seats 75

    Saint Philip & Saint James Church

    Saint Philip & Saint James Church

    4.0(2 reviews)
    10.9 mi

    This place has become the weekly home office for us…read more Why drive nearly thirty minutes for church when there are literally twenty different places in between? I don't know but I think it comes down to four things: 1. This is the only place in the area that offers a Sunday evening service at 5:30. Sorry but not everyone likes or has the scheduling flexibility to get to church in the AM on a Sunday so this is huge as to why I come. I really wish that more pastors would figure this out as clearly there is a market for it as the Sunday evening Mass here is very well attended even during football season. 2. Going to church can be a real drag especially if the priest at your local parish is either a bore, poor public speaker or in the case of the church that's right down the street from me, simply not a nice person in general. SPSJ has you covered as there are five different priests at this parish which equals a nice variety of speeds/homily styles and each week the bulletin/website lists who the celebrant is for the next week so you always know who you're getting. 3. The building itself is an old school beauty that dates back to the late 19th century. 4. The pastor, Father John, even if he is not the celebrant is regularly around after Mass shaking hands and saying hello to everyone. It's a nice touch and one that is certainly not done everywhere. While I'm not a member here (or technically anywhere for that matter) I certainly throw a few bones in the basket every week and as long as they keep offering the Sunday evening Mass I'm pretty sure that we'll be regulars for the foreseeable future.

    I went here when I attended the parochial school next door from 1971 to 1975. This was the only…read morething I liked about that experience since the teachers at the school were all child hating sadists.

    Photos
    Saint Philip & Saint James Church

    See all

    St Joseph's Church - religiousorgs - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...