A Parish at the Heart of Seven Springs
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church sits at 8320 Old County Road 54, in the southeastern portion of New Port Richey, Florida, within the Seven Springs and Trinity area. The parish belongs to the Diocese of St. Petersburg and draws families from across Pasco County, including a lively community of seasonal residents who return each year to the same pews. In a short message to newcomers, Pastor Very Rev. Krzysztof Gazdowicz writes, "Welcome to our parish family! Whether you are a lifelong Catholic, returning to the Church after some time away, or looking for a spiritual home, we are truly blessed that you found us. Our doors and our hearts are open to you." That welcome sets the tone for everything that follows at St. Thomas Aquinas.
From a Mission Church to a Regional Parish
The story of St. Thomas Aquinas begins in June 1980, when the parish was established as a mission serving the Seven Springs area. The first Mass was celebrated on September 7, 1980, at Anclote Elementary School, while daily Masses were held at Morgan's Funeral Home. Groundbreaking for a parish center and chapel took place on April 18, 1982, and the first Sunday Mass in the new building was held on December 5, 1982. The community was canonically established as a parish on October 18, 1982, with Father Thomas Earner as its first pastor. Construction of the current church began on February 17, 1993, and the new worship space was dedicated on October 9, 1994. The parish is named for St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 to 1274), the Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and theologian whose Summa Theologiae and articulation of natural law helped shape Catholic doctrine for centuries. His feast day is celebrated on January 28.
Mass Schedule and the Shape of Worship
The Mass schedule is built around two Saturday vigil Masses and four Sunday Masses, with daily Mass offered every weekday morning. Saturday vigil Masses are celebrated at 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Sunday Masses are celebrated at 7:00 am, 8:30 am, 10:30 am, and 5:00 pm, with the 5:00 pm liturgy serving as the parish's Life Teen Mass. Weekday Mass is offered Monday through Friday at 8:00 am, and an additional First Friday Mass is celebrated at 7:00 pm from September through May. On Holy Days, Masses are offered at 8:00 am, 12 noon, and 7:00 pm unless otherwise noted.
Music at St. Thomas Aquinas reflects the diversity of its schedule. Traditional choirs lead the 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm Saturday vigil Masses, while contemporary choirs lead worship at the 10:30 am and 5:00 pm Sunday Masses. The parish also welcomes instrumentalists willing to accompany the choirs. Rehearsals are weekly, and a regular commitment is to a weekend Mass and occasional special liturgies. The parish encourages anyone with a reasonably good singing voice or instrumental ability to join a choir.
Reconciliation, Adoration, and the Wider Prayer Life
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered every Saturday from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, or by appointment. The church is open for private Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 am until the parish office closes at 4:30 pm. On Thursdays, Exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament begins at 3:00 pm and continues until Benediction at 6:30 pm. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is also offered during Mass on the first Friday of each month, in keeping with the parish's First Friday devotion.
The Seven Sacraments
St. Thomas Aquinas celebrates all seven sacraments of the Catholic Church and offers preparation for each at every stage of life.
Infant baptism is celebrated when parents are actively practicing the Catholic faith. Parents wishing to baptize a child must be registered in the parish, provide a copy of the child's birth certificate, participate in a Baptism class, supply a sponsor letter for each Catholic godparent, and submit the request at a specific Mass at least two weeks in advance. Children and teens age seven and older who are unbaptized or baptized in another Christian tradition are prepared through OCIA Adapted for Children, which runs alongside the adult OCIA process.
First Holy Communion is a two-year preparation that begins no earlier than first grade. Students complete a year of faith formation at St. Thomas Aquinas or at another Catholic school before beginning Year One of sacramental preparation, and they must make their First Reconciliation before receiving First Communion. Confirmation for high school teens is also a two-year process that begins in the ninth grade and culminates in the tenth. Preparation includes participation in Sunday Life Nights, periodic classes, a retreat, regular Mass attendance, and service hours. Adults who have not received Confirmation are invited to join OCIA.
Holy Matrimony at St. Thomas Aquinas requires that either the bride or groom be a practicing Roman Catholic and registered at the parish, along with six months of premarital preparation. The parish also assists couples seeking convalidation of a civil marriage or considering the annulment process, formally called a Declaration of Nullity. The Anointing of the Sick is available to anyone facing serious illness, major surgery, or the frailties of advanced age, and may be received more than once if a condition worsens. Funerals are coordinated through the parish Funeral Coordinator, and the parish provides guidance on Catholic teaching about cremation and the proper care of cremated remains.
Becoming Catholic through OCIA
The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, known as OCIA, meets on Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and welcomes anyone who is unbaptized, baptized in another Christian tradition, a Catholic seeking Confirmation or First Communion, a spouse or friend of a Catholic, or simply curious about the Catholic faith. The parish describes OCIA as a beautiful process through which participants journey toward full communion with the Church, with a sense of longing or belonging often read as a sign of God's call. An adapted OCIA track is offered concurrently for children age seven and older.
Faith Formation for Children and Teens
Faith formation at St. Thomas Aquinas follows a St. Thomas Aquinas quotation that anchors the parish's approach: "We can't have full knowledge all at once. We must start by believing; then afterwards we may be led on to master the evidence for ourselves." The K-5 Faith Formation program serves children in kindergarten through fifth grade who are not enrolled in Catholic schools, with classes meeting either on Sundays from 9:00 to 10:15 am or on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:45 pm. The program uses the Our Sunday Visitor's Alive in Christ curriculum and incorporates special events throughout the year, including the All Saints Procession, the Christmas Pageant, Stations of the Cross led by the K-5 students, First Reconciliation, First Communion, and Vacation Bible School.
Middle school students in grades six through eight are invited into EDGE, a Catholic youth ministry experience designed to meet the educational, spiritual, emotional, and social needs of early adolescents. EDGE meets on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 6:45 pm, and the parish frames this age as a time when young people are "on the edge" and need Jesus, the Word, the Eucharist, and the Church. High school teens in grades nine through twelve are served by Life Teen, which began at St. Thomas Aquinas in 2007. The Life Teen Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 5:00 pm, with the homily and music directed to teens, and teens are encouraged to serve as greeters, ushers, lectors, and choir members. After the Mass, dinner is served at 6:30 pm and Life Night runs until 8:30 pm. The Core Team, made up of young adults from the parish, leads witness talks and small group discussions on topics chosen by the team or suggested by the teens themselves.
Ministries Rooted in Service and Prayer
The parish describes itself as a Stewardship Parish, with a wide range of ministries organized into four areas: Liturgical and Worship, Faith Formation and Catechesis, Parish Life and Community Fellowship, and Prayer and Spirituality, plus a separate cluster for Service, Outreach, and Social Justice.
Liturgical ministries include Altar Servers, open to boys and girls in second grade and above who have received their first sacraments, with parents welcome to train alongside their children as Adult Altar Servers. Readers and Lectors proclaim the Word at Mass, while Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion assist with the distribution of the Eucharist. Sacristans prepare the sanctuary, Projection Operators run the technology at Mass, and Ushers and Greeters welcome worshippers. Church Angels assist with parish needs, and the Ministry to Homebound and Hospitals provides pastoral care for Trinity Hospital as well as twelve nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, including memory care units.
Faith formation ministries include the OCIA Team, the Youth Ministry Core Team, and two ongoing Bible studies: the Women of Faith Bible Study, which meets on Wednesdays from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm and currently uses the Little Rock Scripture Study on the Gospel of Matthew, and the Thursday Evening Bible Study. Faith Formation Catechists and Aides teach the K-5 program, and catechists must pass a Level II Background Screening and complete Safe Environment instruction through the Diocese.
Parish life and community fellowship organizations include the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, the Catholic Men's Fellowship (which meets on the third Saturday of the month from 9:00 to 11:00 am in the parish hall), the Knights of Columbus Council 11497, and LIADO, the Le Italio-Americane di Oggi, an Italian-American women's group. The St. John the Apostle Events and Activities Ministry meets on the second Thursday of the month from 5:30 to 7:00 pm to plan fellowship and social events for the parish.
Prayer and spirituality groups include the Charismatic Prayer Group, which meets on the first and third Tuesdays from 6:30 to 9:00 pm, January through June and September through the first Tuesday in December, with lively praise and worship songs. The Legion of Mary, the Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers, and the Spiritual Motherhood for Priests Apostolate, whose members gather on Thursdays to pray a Rosary of Intercession after the 8:00 am Mass, all support a deeper life of prayer. The St. Padre Pio Spirituality Group meets on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 pm to plan spiritual day trips, movie nights, and visits to the homebound.
Service, Outreach, and Social Justice
Service to neighbors is woven into the parish's identity. The Bereavement Ministry supports individuals and families after the death of a loved one and meets on the first Thursday of every month at 6:00 pm and on the third Thursday at 1:00 pm in the parish center. The Lazarus Group gathers at parish funerals to pray for the deceased and their families, sitting together in marked pews near the front of the sanctuary. The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on the first and third Thursdays from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon to knit and crochet shawls for the sick, baptism blankets for babies, and scarves for older sacramental candidates. The Respect Life Ministry promotes a respect for all human life from conception to natural death and participates each fall in the 40 Days for Life campaign. The Rosary Makers craft rosaries for parish missions. St. Martha's Hospitality Ministry organizes Fellowship Sunday coffee and donuts on the first Sunday of each month, helps with funeral luncheons, and serves at the monthly Baptism classes, Lenten pasta dinners, soup suppers, parish family dinners, and the homebound luncheon. The St. Pasqual Kitchen Ministry keeps the parish kitchen organized for parish gatherings, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society reaches out to those in need in the wider community.
The Early Childhood Center
St. Thomas Aquinas Early Childhood Center is a ministry of the parish and part of the Diocese of St. Petersburg Catholic Schools and Centers. The preschool serves two-year-old, three-year-old, and VPK (Voluntary Prekindergarten) classes, with low student-to-teacher ratios, degreed staff, age-appropriate playgrounds, and a nurturing Christian environment. Director Alicia Mumma leads a teaching team that includes EC2 and EC3 teachers and assistants, VPK teachers and assistants, and a Lunch Bunch staff. The Early Childhood Center can be reached at (727) 376-2330 or staecc@aol.com.
Pastoral Team and Parish Life
The parish is led by Pastor Very Rev. Krzysztof Gazdowicz, V.F., with Parochial Vicar Rev. George Varkey, MST, and Deacon Michael Trimpe serving seasonally. The pastoral team also includes Dan O'Hara in Music Ministry, Kevin Welsh for OCIA and Baptism Preparation, Michaela Meyers for K-5 Faith Formation, Cliff Stodden and Beth DeBella for Youth Ministry, and Claire Obordo as Director of Evangelization. The parish office, located at 8320 Old County Road 54, is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and can be reached at (727) 372-8600 or office@stanpr.org. Sacramental records requests, parish registration, and inquiries about the Catholic Ministry Appeal, the Diocese's annual giving campaign, may all be directed to the office. Online giving is available, and the parish also accepts qualified charitable distributions from traditional IRA accounts and welcomes legacy gifts through wills, life insurance policies, or IRA beneficiary designations.
Getting to the Parish
From the west, drivers traveling east on Florida 54 from US 19 proceed 4.6 miles and turn left (north) onto Old County Road 54; the church is on the right. From the south, drivers take Seven Springs Boulevard east to Florida 54, continue 2.8 miles, and turn left onto Old County Road 54. From the northeast or southeast, drivers exit the Suncoast Parkway onto State Road 54, head west for 5.2 miles, turn right onto Little Road for about half a mile, then turn left onto Old County Road 54. The parish asks drivers to note that the entrance is just past the exit of the parking lot when coming from the west or south.