The J.S. Paluch Company, Inc. is dedicated to serving Catholic parishes, schools, and communities across the United States. Founded by John S. Paluch in 1913, J.S. Paluch Company remains a family-owned business. Second generation Chester Paluch died in 1980 after developing the company over a period of 35 years following World War II. His wife Margaret now serves as chair of the board. Margaret’s daughter Mary L. Rafferty, a third generation of the Paluch family, owns the company, and William J. Rafferty is President.

When Chester Paluch assumed responsibility for managing the company, its principal business was publishing devotional booklets in the Catholic community. It has since developed into a major national religious publisher, providing the Catholic community with worship aids, Sunday bulletins, educational bulletin supplements, and computer software.

Liturgy and Music Resources

The Missalette, one of our principal products, resulted from Chester Paluch’s concern that Catholic congregations take an active role in worship at Mass. In the 1950’s the company began providing Chicago-area churches with worship aids (in Latin at that time), allowing people’s participation at Mass in dialogue with the celebrant. Thereby, the company was ready with the appropriate vehicle when, in the 1960’s, the vernacular replaced Latin as the language of liturgy. Several million copies of this innovative publication were distributed nationally. It was the forerunner of the widely-used monthly missalettes, first published in 1965. These periodical worship aids have come to be used in various editions over time – Monthly Missalette, Praise, Seasonal Missalette, with the option of Misalito Parroquial, We Worship, and We Celebrate. In 1994 the Paluch Company introduced the new We Celebrate Worship Resource to meet the needs of worshipping communities moving into the 21st century. This resource was newly designed and expanded in the 1997 edition.

J.S. Paluch also publishes wonderful support materials for Scripture study and personal growth. Liturgy of the Word offers Scripture readings and psalms for all the Sundays and holy days of the year. Living the Word – Not Only On Sunday serves a wide variety of believers and groups by providing the Sunday readings, RCIA material, commentary, reflections, and discussion questions, along with reprint permission.

In 1971 the company acquired World Library Publications, a Cincinnati publisher of music and worship aids. World Library, now a division of J.S. Paluch, publishes a wide variety of liturgy and music resources, including an excellent choral series: Contemporary Composers, La Serie Celebremos, Music for Children, Music for the Rites, Music for the Seasons, Psalms for the Church, and Songs of the Notre Dame Folk Choir.

During the 1990’s J.S. Paluch expanded its Hispanic liturgy and music resources. To serve the Latin and Hispanic communities, in addition to Misalito Parroquial, the company now publishes an exclusive side-by-side Spanish and English worship resource named Celebremos, which also includes Spanish, English, and bilingual hymns and songs. New octavos, songbooks, and recordings are available as well.

Voices as One, just released in 1999, is another exciting new product for today’s worship. This hymnal gathers the best of contemporary hymns and songs into a convenient, attractive and economical volume.

The J.S. Paluch Company provides an extensive variety of bulletins in various formats and sizes. We have expanded from a local supplier of Sunday bulletins in the Chicago area to a national supplier. Offices in California, Florida, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Texas supply custom-printed weekly bulletins to thousands of parishes around the country. Ads for the bulletins are sold by a national sales force of nearly 200 people. The Paluch Company continues to be the leader and innovator in today’s industry. In 1992 we introduced Laser-Com Express, a state-of-the-art bulletin service; ours was the first company to provide typeset bulletins, telecommunicated copy, and laser printing to their customers. Bulletin users also receive an extensive collection of artwork, graphics, and headings for their bulletin layout.

In 1983 the Paluch Company entered a new field of service to American Catholic parishes, initiating its COMP division to provide Computer Operations Management Programs. We now offer PCMS, the Paluch Church Management System, a parish management system designed to suit the unique requirements of the Catholic community with software programs, training, and continuing support services.

The J.S. Paluch Company is committed to vocation awareness. In 1983 the company published its first Catholic Family Appointment Calendar with a vocation theme for distribution at the parish level. Since 1977 we have hosted an annual national vocations seminar that gathers vocation leaders from across the country to plan and exchange ideas. In 1994, the Paluch Company became a partner in, and Executive Board Member of, the National Coalition for Church Vocations, the umbrella organization for vocation awareness material. Other partners include the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors, the National Religious Vocation Conference, the Priests of the Sacred Heart, the Rogationists Fathers, and Serra International. Margaret Paluch serves on the Advisory Board for Mundelein Seminary, as well as numerous committees and groups dedicated to vocations and charitable church-related projects. William Rafferty is President of the Advisory Board for Quigley Seminary. The company supports many local and national vocation-related projects and programs as well.

Our key function is service. Company publishing decisions, internal procedures, customer policies, and relationships are all designed to increase the effectiveness of the company’s service to our customers. As we continue our mission to serve the Church, we will continue our efforts to provide the best customer service. Together we will enhance the liturgical experience and faith life of believers throughout the country and create systems to simplify and ease the administration of parishes and communication with parishioners.

Please share any comments, questions, and suggestions with us at any time. We appreciate your input, your interest, and your patronage.