About St. Stephen · Bunnell, Florida
St. Stephen Chapel is a Roman Catholic mission chapel of the Diocese of St. Augustine, located at 2400 E. Highway 100 in Bunnell, Florida, in Flagler County. Established in 1957, it serves as a chapel of the larger parish of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Palm Coast and offers Saturday Vigil and Sunday evening Masses for Catholics in the greater Bunnell area. The chapel is pastored by Rev. Jose Panthaplamthottiyil, CMI, a member of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, and its mailing address and parish administration are handled through the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton rectory on Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast.
- Established
- 1957
- Patron
- St. Stephen
- Rector
- Rev. Jose Panthaplamthottiyil, CMI
- Diocese
- Diocese of St. Augustine
Why belong here
St. Stephen Chapel gives Catholic families in Bunnell and the rural western side of Flagler County a place to worship close to home without driving to Palm Coast or Flagler Beach. As a chapel of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, it offers a Saturday Vigil Mass at 6:00 p.m. and a Sunday evening Mass at 5:00 p.m., and it is staffed by the same pastor, parochial vicars, and five deacons who serve the wider parish — so parishioners can tap into the full sacramental and ministry life of the mother church (religious education, youth ministry, music, and Eucharistic adoration) while belonging to a small, personal chapel community.
Mass times at St. Stephen
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Available at the mother parish, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Saturday 2:45–3:45 p.m., and Sunday 30 minutes before each Mass, or by appointment (call 386-445-2246). No regular confession schedule is published specifically for St. Stephen Chapel.
Adoration times
- Adoration is not separately scheduled at St. Stephen Chapel; at the mother parish, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is held every Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Holy of Holies (directly behind the altar).
About St. Stephen Chapel
St. Stephen Chapel is a Roman Catholic mission chapel of the Diocese of St. Augustine, located at 2400 E. Highway 100 in Bunnell, Florida — the county seat of Flagler County on Florida's northeast Atlantic coast. Established in 1957 and listed in the diocesan directory as 'St. Stephen Chapel (Est. 1957),' it functions as a chapel of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, whose main church is in Palm Coast a few miles to the north. Worship at the chapel is offered in English with a Saturday Vigil Mass and a Sunday evening Mass each week.
History
St. Stephen Chapel dates to 1957, when Catholics in the small north-Florida town of Bunnell needed a dedicated worship site. It grew out of a Flagler County Catholic mission that had begun decades earlier at St. Mary's in Korona (1915), built for a community of Polish farmers. In 1964, Father Antonio Leon — a Spanish priest ordained in Madrid in 1957 — was named pastor of all of Flagler County, and in 1970 he built Santa Maria del Mar in Flagler Beach. He was succeeded in 1974 by Rev. Thomas Cody of Waterford, Ireland, who shepherded the county through a major reorganization by Bishop Tanner in April 1976. That reorganization created two distinct parishes: Santa Maria del Mar combined with St. Mary's of Korona on one side, and a new Palm Coast church (dedicated to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the newly canonized first American-born saint) on the other, with St. Stephen Chapel of Bunnell attached as its mission. St. Stephen's has continued in that mission role ever since, administered from the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton rectory on Belle Terre Parkway in Palm Coast.
- 1957 – St. Stephen Chapel opens in Bunnell, the second Catholic worship site in Flagler County after St. Mary's in Korona (1915).
- 1964 – Father Antonio Leon appointed pastor of Flagler County during the Second Vatican Council.
- 1970 – Father Leon builds Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church in Flagler Beach.
- April 1976 – Bishop Tanner divides the Flagler County Catholic mission into two parishes; St. Stephen's is grouped with the new Palm Coast parish.
- June 1977 – Rev. Tom Cody installed as founding pastor of the Palm Coast (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton) parish; St. Stephen Chapel becomes its mission chapel.
- Today – Operates as a mission chapel of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, sharing its pastor and pastoral staff.
Parish Leadership & Clergy
St. Stephen Chapel is pastored by Rev. Jose Panthaplamthottiyil, CMI, a member of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, a Syro-Malabar Catholic missionary congregation. He is assisted at the wider parish by two parochial vicars — Rev. Robert Trujillo and Rev. Sergio Luiz Mafra Santos — and five deacons: Deacon Bob Devereux, Deacon Jose Homem, Deacon Mike McKenna, Deacon Ed Wolff, and Deacon Stephen Johnson III. All sacramental and administrative matters for the chapel are handled through the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton rectory in Palm Coast.
- Pastor: Rev. Jose Panthaplamthottiyil, CMI ([email protected])
- Parochial Vicars (at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton): Rev. Robert Trujillo; Rev. Sergio Luiz Mafra Santos
- Deacons: Bob Devereux, Jose Homem, Mike McKenna, Ed Wolff, Stephen Johnson III
Connection to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish
St. Stephen Chapel functions as a mission chapel of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Palm Coast, founded in 1979. The mother parish runs the full sacramental, educational, and ministerial life of the community — daily Mass, faith formation for children and youth, a music ministry, Eucharistic adoration, and outreach — and St. Stephen's parishioners participate in that wider parish life through the staff listed above.
- Mother parish: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, 4600 Belle Terre Parkway, Palm Coast, FL 32164
- Parish phone: (386) 445-2246
- Parish website: www.seaspcfl.org
- Founded: 1979
Special Events
In recent years St. Stephen Chapel has hosted part of the Diocese of St. Augustine's Multicultural Advent Novena — a nine-day series of bilingual prayer services running December 15 through 23 in the lead-up to Christmas — in cooperation with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. The chapel also participates in the wider liturgical life of the deanery, which is served from St. Anastasia Parish in St. Augustine.
Visit & Contact
St. Stephen Chapel is located on East Highway 100 (State Road 100) on the east side of Bunnell. Its official mailing address, phone, and pastoral contacts are handled through the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton rectory in Palm Coast. The Diocese of St. Augustine lists it on its parish directory page and is the chapel's primary online presence.
- Street address: 2400 E. Highway 100, Bunnell, FL 32110
- Mailing address: 4600 Belle Terre Parkway, Palm Coast, FL 32164
- Phone: (386) 445-2246
- Pastor email: [email protected]
- Diocese listing: http://www.dosafl.com/parish/st-stephen-chapel/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Antonio Leon1964 – 1974
Appointed 'pastor' of Flagler County in 1964 during Vatican II; oversaw St. Stephen's in Bunnell, St. Mary's in Korona, and founded Santa Maria del Mar in Flagler Beach in 1970. Born in Cordova, Spain; ordained in Madrid, 1957.
- Rev. Thomas Cody1974 –
Born December 2, 1943 in Waterford, Ireland; ordained 1968 at St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny; founding pastor of the new Palm Coast (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton) parish in June 1977, with St. Stephen Chapel as its mission.