A Letter From Our Pastor: New Year, New Opportunities — Rebuilding to Serve

Happy New Year to you and your family. The beginning of a new year provides us with opportunities to find God more deeply through serving Him in new ways, and this year, we are ready to take the next steps to grow our faith community to do just that.

In early 1993, 44 families gathered with the guidance of Fr. John Giuliani, on faithful hope and prayer, to establish a Mission Church known as the Fort Mill/Tega Cay Catholic Community. Initially, Masses were celebrated Saturday afternoon at Lake Wylie Lutheran Church in Fort Mill before moving to the Fellowship Hall at Philadelphia United Methodist Church. In 1994, after being named St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in honor of the Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, the parish began an almost 20-year journey of growing and building, culminating in the dedication of the sanctuary in May 2013. Now, the Holy Spirit prompts us to take additional steps to respond to the continued spiritual and stewardship growth of our community.

As you probably know, our Parish Center has become problematic since being built in 1998. Beginning with damage to the roof caused by the “storm of the century” in 2004, the building has just never been “right.” Even with some initial repairs, over time, the cost to repair the building has ballooned to over $2 million, and that only gets it back to the original design. Even with the repairs, the Parish Center would not meet our current or future needs. The Child Development Center basically occupies the building daily until noon. That leaves the parish no place for formation or other ministry activities for much of the week. Quite simply, there’s no place for parish stewardship to grow.

In February 2019, we conducted a study, and after much prayer and planning, it has been determined that the best path forward is to build a new Parish Center. Our plans for the new building include a new Child Development Center, in which we can better care for the children who are being served, as well as a much nicer and better-equipped Parish Center Hall to host parish and community events. In accordance with our recent plan created by our Building & Planning, and Property & Facilities Committees, and approved by Bishop Guglielmone, we are ready to take the next steps to better equip our faith community.

The New Parish Center Project

The goals as identified and prioritized by the Parish Financial and Pastoral Councils, the Property & Facility and Building & Planning Committees are as follows:

• Improve site function

• Provide space for St. Philip Neri ministries and community organizations to gather

• Improve St. Philip Neri Child Development Center effectiveness

• Support the work of the Church

• Address security concerns

Collectively, the new Father John Giuliani Parish Center spaces will provide an unrestricted opportunity to carry out the mission of our parish — to form a church family dedicated to continuing the ministry of Christ. Increases and improvements in the practice of evangelization, outreach, hospitality, adult and youth faith formation, and much more, will solidify St. Philip Neri’s presence in the Fort Mill community. The Italian Festival, an important event in the life of that community, can also be greatly improved and expanded.

With this new facility, which will take approximately 18 months to complete, start to finish, St. Philip Neri will continue to be a welcoming parish that reflects the heart, mercy and teachings of Christ, serving our parish and our community in numerous ways, from worship, religious education and formation, and spiritual development to community outreach and social activities.

The Building & Planning and Property & Facility Committees continue to evaluate our needs and assess the design of the new Parish Center, and in the weeks to come, we’ll be embarking on a capital campaign to raise the funding to support this important endeavor.

With open minds, open hearts and open arms, I ask you to please pray with us as we move forward with what the Holy Spirit is calling us to do. Look for regular updates as we continue to move forward.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Fr. Fabio Refosco, C.O.

Fr. Fabio Refosco, C.O.