St. Stephen Catholic Church was founded in 1987, meeting in a storefront on Bell Shoals Road that is now home to Beef O'Brady's Irish Pub. It moved to its current facility on Bell Shoals Road in 1991, opening its doors with 1,285 registered families. Today the church has more than 4,200 families and is planning to build a new, larger facility on Boyette Road. St. Stephen has one of the largest adult education programs in the Diocese of St. Petersburg and now celebrates baptisms nearly every weekend. The church boasts 110 ministries and provides food for 178 poor families every week through its St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry. Three full-time priests serve the parish, Pastor William Swengros, Father Jose and Father Emory, with the help of two deacons, Dan Gratkowski and Rick Zeitler.