Written by Father James Finno, Pastor Emeritus
On November 1, 1999, Fr, Jay Finno, the founding pastor, Deacons Joe Stalcup and Ken Zawadzki, and administrative assistant Karen Opyd opened the office of the new parish in Tinley Park in a home on Mallow Drive.
Morning Mass was celebrated in the living room that became our daily chapel. Sunday Masses began on November 27 – 28 at Prairie View junior high.
In that first month, 70 families registered as members of the new parish and we began the weekly routine of picking up materials needed for Sunday Mass from the garage of the parish house and taking them back and forth to Prairie View.
The parish liturgy team and spiritual life committee, a welcoming group, a St. Vincent DePaul Society, a marriage preparation program, men and women’s groups, and a finance committee were soon begun by the staff and many dedicated volunteers. Most meetings were held in rooms in the house on Mallow Drive. The office was on the first floor and Fr, Jay’s living quarters and the deacons’ office were on the second floor.
After several months, Cardinal George approved the name St. Stephen Deacon and Martyr for the new parish.
In the fall of 2000, the Cardinal Bernardin School opened with St. Stephen joining St. Elizabeth Seton, St. Julie, and St. Francis, as sponsoring parishes.
That fall St. Stephen began our religious education program using rooms at Andrew high school. Just over 200 students were part of the program.
That fall financial planning, building design, and construction committees began working toward building our parish facilities.
A site plan was developed that sought to foresee the facilities needed over the next 25 years for our parish. The site plan envisioned facilities of 53,000 square feet that included a church to seat 1000 people, office space, a parish hall, and meeting space for religious education and other needs. Budget constraints limited the original construction to about 36,000 square feet, which included the church, the parish office facilities, and the meeting room wing.
The completion of the Parish Life Center in 2018 enabled the parish to complete the vision of the original site plan.
Ground was broken for parish facilities in August, 2001, and construction began on October 1, 2001. In October 2002, our parish offices and religious education program moved into the new facilities, and the church was finished and able to be occupied in November 2002.
Cardinal George dedicated our church on November 24, 2002.
Once the church opened, the parish grew rapidly, with over 1500 households registered by the end of 2003. Fr Waldemar Stawiarski became our first associate pastor on July 1, 2003.
The parish continued to grow until over 4000 households were registered and St. Stephen had one of the largest religious education programs in the Archdiocese of Chicago.