St. Joseph the Worker

St. Joseph the Worker
2310 SE 148th Ave.           

St. Joseph the Worker is located far out on SE Division Street, almost to Gresham.  The building that houses it looks very much like it used to be a public grade school.  Although the parishioners at the 10:30 am Mass were mostly White, there were also lots of Asians, Hispanics and a few Pacific Islanders. 

It was a nice Mass with quite a friendly congregation.  Father John Amsberry looked familiar.  Finally I realized that he used to be at Holy Redeemer Parish in N. Portland.  Father Amsberry is a good looking, relatively young priest who possesses both an MBA and a Law degree.  He has a habit of getting the congregation to say "we are loved," all in unison.  He even has a web site by that name:  http://www.uareloved.com/.  Getting the congregation to say things in unison, on top of the many things we already say in unison during Mass, is not my cup of tea.  But most of the parishioners seem to like it. 

St. Joseph's web site is as good as any I have seen yet in the Archdiocese.  I liked the feel and the multi-ethnicity of the parish and would like to visit again.