The Pastoral Handbook of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh states the following:

     To assist in the work of the church, each parish will have a Parish Advisory Council

     which will be concerned  with spiritual, pastoral, educational, financial and

     social needs of the parish. (#125)

St. Stephen Church is blessed to have a very dedicated and talented group of people to serve in this capacity, people with a variety of backgrounds and experience.

The Parish Advisory Council meets monthly on the second Tuesday of the month. Agenda items are proposed, and the Council seeks to deal with each of these in a respectful and professional manner.

Since the spiritual life of the parish is paramount, the Council shows interest in and is supportive of the liturgical and spiritual life, offering helpful reviews of each of the seasons and suggestions for the future. The Council also supports the Eastern Christian Formation Program (ECF) by insuring that a quality program is availale. The Coordinator of the ECF is a member of the Council and keeps the Council abreast of the program.

Thus far, the Council has developed a three-fold approach for the social life of the parish: a parish Oktoberfest dinner in the fall, a dinner in honor of the parish patronal feast of St. Stephen in the winter and a Spring Social Breakfast that coincides with the conclusion of the Eastern Christan Formation Program (ECF) for the year.

The Council has also been very active in promoting financial stewardship of the parish so that many needed repairs and updates of the parish facilities have been and continue to be made without incurring any further financial burden to the parish. The Council carefully reviews the annual financial report of the parish and monitors the on-going budget for the year.

The parish members currently serving on the Parish Advisory Council are: