TRUMBULL– The Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time was no ordinary Sunday for the parishioners at St. Stephen Parish in Trumbull. On October 15, after the 11:30 am Mass, 100 or so parishioners gathered around the new entrance of their recently refurbished convent building to witness Monsignor Robert Kinnally, Vicar General of the Diocese of Bridgeport, cut the ribbon to officially open their new parish center, aptly named “Mary, Queen of Martyrs,” after the deanery that includes all of the Trumbull parishes.
The pastor of St. Stephen, Father Henry Hoffman, was overjoyed to see all of the hard work over the past nine months come to such a beautiful conclusion as he noted to those present how “this was truly the work of an incredible parish team.”
The focus of the renovation was on the lower two floors where rooms that were left unattended since the coronavirus pandemic were turned into brightly lit areas for Faith Formation, general gathering spaces and a beautiful chapel that has been transformed into an amazing, sacred space for prayer, Adoration and liturgy.
The parish leaders also took the opportunity to have the dedication of the new building coincide with their parish version of “Ministry Day,” where representatives of all existing (and some newly created) ministries were stationed throughout the building to speak about how they offer their time and talents to God’s people with the hope that their passion would entice others to join one or two of the ministries where they would feel comfortable. Conversations were lively and the rooms were filled parishioners of all generations as they viewed all of the displays from each of the ministries.
Monsignor Kinnally was amazed at the turnout as he went from room to room with Holy Water, blessing all those who were touring the building noting “how energized the people were as they were welcomed into this new space”.
Father Hoffman gave special thanks to his council leaders, Bonnie Kellogg of the parish council, Donna Lane of the finance council and their teams, who put in an incredible amount of volunteer hours behind the scenes, and the generous donors, who requested anonymity, without whom this vision would not have become a reality.
“We see our parishioners coming back to be a part of our parish again and families enjoying our faith formation programs”, Father Hoffman stated. “We are hoping they all feel welcomed to participate into an aspect of our parish that they feel called to serve”.
Deacon John DiTaranto added that “this falls right in line with Bishop Caggiano’s vision of ‘The One,’ where parishes create small, passionate groups within their community of faith, who become acquainted and energize each other with the hope they will grow together into a vibrant, loving parish where all are welcomed.”
