About St. Joseph · Yates Center, Kansas
St. Joseph Catholic Church is a small Roman Catholic parish serving the rural seat of Woodson County in Yates Center, Kansas, and a part of the Diocese of Wichita. With roughly 99 registered families and about 194 individual Catholics, it is one of the smaller congregations in the diocese but provides a steady weekly sacramental presence for Catholics across the surrounding countryside. The parish is pastored together with neighboring missions as part of a tri-parish grouping that shares clergy and administrative offices. Mass is celebrated on Sunday mornings and Thursday evenings, and confessions are heard before the Sunday liturgy.
- Patron
- St. Joseph
- Rector
- Rev. David Michael Htun
- Diocese
- Diocese of Wichita
Why belong here
St. Joseph offers a faithful, intimate Catholic community in a part of Kansas where Catholic parishes are few and far between. Members enjoy a dependable Sunday liturgy, a weekday Mass option on Thursdays, and the chance to know their pastor personally across the parish's small, stable family base. Because the parish shares clergy with nearby Iola and Piqua, it serves as a Catholic anchor for Catholics spread across Woodson County and the surrounding rural area.
Mass times at St. Joseph
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday 7:30 AM (before Mass)
- By appointment
Parish Identity and Community
St. Joseph Catholic Church is the parish of the Diocese of Wichita that serves Catholics in Yates Center, the county seat of Woodson County in southeastern Kansas. The parish is a small but stable community of roughly 99 families and 194 individual Catholics, and it provides the only regular Catholic liturgy in the immediate area.
- 99 registered families
- 194 individual Catholics
- Located in Yates Center, Woodson County, Kansas
- Diocese of Wichita
Pastor and Clergy
The parish is served by Rev. David Michael Htun, who was ordained to the priesthood on January 17, 2004. Father Htun was appointed pastor of St. Joseph in 2021 and simultaneously serves the parishes of St. John in Iola and St. Martin Oratory in Piqua, forming a tri-parish cluster across Allen and Woodson Counties. His earlier diocesan assignments include St. Thomas Aquinas in Wichita, St. Francis in St. Paul, St. Ambrose in Erie, and St. Paul University Parish in Wichita.
- Rev. David Michael Htun — Pastor since 2021
- Ordained January 17, 2004
- Birth date: November 27, 1974
- Clustered parishes: St. John (Iola), St. Joseph (Yates Center), St. Martin Oratory (Piqua)
Clustered Parishes and Shared Administration
St. Joseph is administered together with two neighboring Catholic communities under one pastor. The shared arrangement allows the diocese to maintain a Catholic sacramental presence in sparsely populated southeast Kansas. The parish office and mailing address for St. Joseph are hosted at the Iola parish (310 South Jefferson, Iola, KS 66749), and the parish phone line rings through to that office.
- St. John, Iola — partner parish
- St. Martin Oratory, Piqua — partner mission
- Mailing address: 310 South Jefferson, Iola, KS 66749
- Parish office phone: 620-365-2277
Contact and Location
The parish is located on East Bell Street in the heart of Yates Center. The street address is 107 E. Bell, Yates Center, KS 66783, with parish phone (620) 365-2277 and fax (620) 365-7244. The mailing address, used for parish correspondence, is in Iola because the tri-parish administrative office is based there.
- Street Address: 107 E. Bell St., Yates Center, KS 66783
- Mailing Address: 310 South Jefferson, Iola, KS 66749
- Phone: 620-365-2277
- Fax: 620-365-7244
Local History and Setting
Yates Center is the seat of Woodson County and was founded in 1875 by Abner Yates, an Illinois pioneer who donated the land for the courthouse and, by local tradition, a building lot for each church in town. That donation provided the ground on which St. Joseph was eventually constructed. The Catholic Diocese of Wichita, of which St. Joseph is a part, was erected in 1887 to serve the Catholics of southern Kansas, and St. Joseph has been one of its long-standing rural parishes.
- Yates Center founded in 1875 by Abner Yates
- Abner Yates donated lots for the courthouse and churches
- Diocese of Wichita established in 1887
- Parish serves the Woodson County seat and surrounding rural area
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. David Michael Htun2021–present
Also serves as pastor of St. John, Iola and St. Martin Oratory, Piqua; ordained January 17, 2004.