2026 – A Year of New Beginnings and Celebration

• Celebrating 20 Years of Catholic Education! In August 2026, Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi School Ministry proudly celebrates 20 years since opening its doors in 2006, marking two decades of faith-filled learning, academic excellence, and forming disciples of Christ.
• Welcoming Our New Pastor – Effective July 1, 2026, we joyfully welcome Father Bob Robeson as the new Pastor of Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi Parish.
  • Previously Pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish (Beech Grove) and Good Shepherd Parish (Indianapolis).
  • Serves as the Chaplain Coordinator for Roncalli High School.
  • Former Rector of Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis.
  • Brings extensive experience in parish leadership, priestly formation, and Catholic education.
• Welcoming Our New Parochial Vicar – Also beginning July 1, 2026, we welcome Father Isaac Siefker as our new Parochial Vicar.
  • Previously served alongside Father Bob at Holy Name of Jesus and Good Shepherd.
  • Ordained to the priesthood in 2025, bringing enthusiasm and a youthful perspective to parish ministry.
• Thank You, Father Anthony Armbruster
  • Father Anthony has been appointed Parochial Vicar at Saint Luke Parish in Indianapolis.
  • He will serve alongside Father Joe Moriarty, a longtime friend of Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi and St. Martin of Tours.
  • Saint Luke also holds special meaning for Father Anthony, as it was one of his summer seminarian assignments.
  • We thank Father Anthony for his faithful ministry and wish him abundant blessings in his new assignment.
• Thank You, Father Steve Giannini
  • After years of dedicated leadership and service, Father Steve has been appointed Pastor of St. Mary Parish in Greensburg, Indiana.
  • This assignment brings him closer to his family in Richmond, Indiana.
  • We are deeply grateful for Father Steve's vision, leadership, and unwavering commitment to growing our parish and school community.
• A Year of New Beginnings
  • As we celebrate 20 years of our School Ministry, we also begin a new chapter in parish life with new pastoral leadership, while remaining rooted in our mission to know Christ, grow in faith, and serve others together.

2021 – Returning Together

• Students and staff returned to in-person learning with enhanced COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
• Classrooms, lunches, arrival and dismissal procedures, and school activities looked different as the School Ministry prioritized the health and well-being of students and faculty.
• Parish ministries and faith formation gradually resumed with safety guidelines in place.
• Weekend Mass attendance steadily increased as parishioners returned to worship together.
• The resilience and flexibility of parishioners, families, faculty, and staff demonstrated the strength of the Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi community.

In the year 2019:

• The church purchased new Stained glass entryway for the doors leading out into the Resurrection Garden from the church.   The door is etched glass with a clear San Damiano cross.  On each side of the door are stained glass panels of beautiful angels with musical instruments.  The small windows  behind the altar and in the chapel were replaced with geometrical stained glass.
• The Food Pantry received a $100,000 grant from the Archdiocesan Catholic Relief Services.  Several things around the Food Pantry were upgraded and  a freezer and refrigerator were purchased.  Now the food pantry can provide meat, eggs and milk to their clients.
• At the Easter Vigil, 12 people went through RCIA or Bridges and became members of the Catholic Church.
• This year, for the first time, three SSFC parishioners received CYO volunteer awards.  Anthony Kovaks & Jeffrey Amodeo received Spirit of Youth awards and Brian Bischoff was awarded the Monsignor Busald Award.
• We had the driveways (not the parking lot) repaved.  It only cost us $33,540.00!
• We said goodbye to Alyx Kopie and hello to Emily Ketzner as our Assistant Youth Ministers.
• Monica Robinson, our Youth Minister Coordinator, was awarded the "Youth Minister Service Leader of the Year" by the Archdiocese.
• 109 Youth and chaperones from Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi attend NCYC (National Catholic Youth Conference) downtown.  This only happens every two years and youth must be high school age.
• The parish contained 1,699 families.
• In this year, we had 61 baptisms
                                          126 First Communions
                                            86 Confirmations
                                            21 Marriages
                                          192 Anointing of the Sick
                                      1,739 Confessions
                                             29 Funerals

2018 was very busy:

• Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi celebrated its 25th Anniversary as a parish. We celebrated at several special Masses:  Archbishop Charles Tobin celebrated one and at another, Father Steve Jarrell (SSFC's first priest) and Deacon Steve Hodges (SSFC's second Deacon) helped celebrate another Mass.  We held a Dinner Dance and finalized the celebrations with an outdoor Mass in the rectory's backyard, led by Fr. Steve Giannini, followed by a parish picnic.
• We had four major job changes this year.  Our Parish Secretary, Shelley Kehres,  retired and we welcomed Julie  Biasi as our new "right-hand".  Our bookkeeper, Marti McIntire, also retired.  We were fortunate to have Tom Lauck take her place.  We also said goodbye to Michael Rose (facilities manager) and Katie Dollens (ECM Secretary).  Michael's position was taken by Dan Meadows and Katie was replaced by Amanda Brewer.
• We payoff at $350,000 short-term loan from the Archdiocese.  It took us only 20 months!
• We had two parishioners win prestigious CYO awards:  Jeffery Amodeo won the CYO Msgr. Busald Award for volunteering with parish youth and Emma Pawlik received the Spirit of Youth Award for all her involvement as a CYO youth volunteer.
• For the first time ever, 8th Grade Confirmation was held at Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi (and not downtown at the Cathedral)!  Monsignor Bill Stumpf, Vicar General for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis celebrated the Sacrament with 81 of our youth.
• 94 children received their First Communion at three different Masses.
• Over 20 parishioners (young and old) went on a Mission Trip to Appalachia in June
• The parish raised funds to upgrade the lighting in the church to a more energy-efficient system.
• All parishioners were encouraged to donate to one of our four Endowment Funds: School Endowment, Parish Endowment, Resurrection Garden Endowment and the new Harvest Food Pantry Endowment.
• School won a "Project Fit America" Grant.  It built a fitness field behind the back parking lot area and provided an educator to train the students and teachers for one day.
• Our annual Fall Festival was a success!  The Festival Chairperson, Roger Languell, Festival Committee and all the volunteers were outstanding.  Congrats to Jan Stilger, the chairperson of the Cake Wheel booth for organizing almost 300 cakes, cupcakes, breads and cookies to be given out as prizes!

We had a lot going on in 2017:

• We began our Stewardship of Treasure program, "Walking in Christ's Footsteps." This was a three-step drive to improve the financial stability of our parish.
• We had our first Taizé Prayer Service during Lent.
• The parish's Athletic Ministry formed its first wrestling team. We also combined with Our Lady of the Greenwood Catholic Church (OLG) of Greenwood and St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church of Franklin to form the football league, "Johnson County Knights Football.
• In May, the Notre Dame Folk Choir presented a concert in our church.
• The school hosted a 5K Fun Run.
• First Communion was received by 120 children in three different Masses.
• June 2017 had us saying goodbye to our Associate Pastor, Fr. James Brockmeier. We did not receive another Associate Pastor this year, but Fr. David Marcotte became a Pastor in Residence. He was not officially assigned to our parish, but he lived in the rectory and filled in for Masses when his other duties allowed. For six-weeks during this summer, Brother Peduru Fonseka, OSB, was assigned to our parish. Brother Peduru is originally from Sri Lanka and will become an ordained priest in 2018.
• In July, the Archdiocese of Indianapolis was appointed a new Archbishop: Archbishop Charles C. Thompson.
• In November, 61 youths and 10 chaperons attended NCYC (National Catholic Youth Conference) in Indianapolis.
• Our Outreach Ministry held their annual Thanksgiving Food Distribution. They were able to assist 255 families with their Thanksgiving food and turkeys.
• The parish was able to offer our second SSFC Christmas Ornament for purchase.
• We ended 2017 with 1,602 parish families and performed 72 baptisms, 135 First Communions, 100 Confirmations, 20 burials and 14 marriages.

What did 2016 bring to Saints Francis & Clare of Assisi? Here's a list that has happened:

• Indiana received its first Cardinal as Archbishop Joseph Tobin became His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Tobin. As a Cardinal, he will one of the priests who go to Rome vote on who will become the next Pope.
• We said "Ciao" to Father Tim Wyciskalla as he headed to Rome to study canon law, and said "Hello!" to Fr. James Brockmeier who joined us in July as our new Associate Pastor.
• The Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) became known as the Early Childhood Ministry (ECM) to be able to gain accrediation from the state of Indiana.
• We received a new Pastoral Associate, Joy Burianek, who became in charge of the Care Ministry.
• 91 SSFC youth went through Confirmation and 113 children went through First Communion this year.
• Said goodbye to Deacon Steve Hodges as he accepted his new position at Saints Peter & Paul Cathedral downtown.
• The Knights of Columbus organized a Parish Picnic.
• The Columbarium and the ECM received beautiful landscaping.
• The "old" Stations of the Crosses that previously led to the Meditation Garden were given new life in the Rectory Flower Garden. The Stations were originally an Eagle Scout Project and were re-dedicated by Fr. Steve on July 2.
• For the first time in many years, we held the first parish Ministry Fair.
• Our Lenten Almsgiving Project was RICE BOWLS for CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICE (CRS).
• Linda Pirau, the coordinator for the Care Ministry and Columbarium, transferred to St. Malachy to become their full-time Care Ministry Coordinator--still a parishioner there though!
• We had POKEMON Go Stop appear on our campus for everyone to enjoy and participate in the latest interactive cell phone game craze.
• The school celebrated its 10th Anniversary!
• John Michael Talbot performed a concert here in October.
• Michael Rose joined our staff as our new Facilities Manager.

• We experienced several changes in staff as several of our staff retired: Business Manager, Jackie Buchanan; High School and Young Adult Youth Ministry Coordinator, Gina Hines; Pastoral Associate and Coordinator of Adult Faith, Mary Chasteen; and School President, Rob Richardson.
• The BIGGEST NEWS for the parish was that both our Pastor and our Associate Pastor were reassigned to St. Malachy's Catholic Church in Brownsburg. Father Vince had been with us for 12 years and made a TREMENDOUS difference to our parish community. Fr. Dave came to us as a newly ordained priest and his youth and enthusiasm captured the hearts of everyone. He served as a wonderful role model for the younger members of our congregation.
• On July 1st, our parish received Father Steve Giannini as our new Pastor, and Father Tim Wyciskalla as our Associate Pastor. They seemed to blend with our parish quite well.
• The columbarium added a second wall of niches and 15 Stations of the Cross niches were installed in the Resurrection Garden of Saints Francis & Clare Catholic Church.
• We opened the Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC), which will house or infant, Pre-K and Kindergarten students, on September 8, 2015. It was dedicated on September 20th. We were fortunate enough that we had more students enroll than could fit comfortably in to the ECLC, so our Kindergarten classes stayed in the Assisi Center for the school year of 2015-16.
• Pope Francis visited the United States and several SSFC parishioners traveled to Philadelphia to join the crowds and catch a glimpse of him.
• The parish established its own Knights of Columbus Council (#16305).
• Nw Fundraisers: Youth Ministry held its first PURSE BINGO on October 6 and the school held TRIVIA NIGHT on November 14.
• The Parish received a new Monstrance and purchased a new Baby Grand piano.
• At Christmas time, SSFC designed and sold its first Christmas Ornament.
• Many youth for our parish attended NCYC2015 (National Conference for Young Catholics), which was held downtown Indianapolis.

A lot happened in 2014.

• We were appointed a new Associate Priest, Fr. Dave Marcotte
• A LOT of construction on the SSFC campus was completed in 2014:
  • Saints Francis & Clare answered Pope Francis' call to "Feed the Hungry" and as a Lenten Almsgiving Project, raised enough money to build a new free-standing Food Pantry--our NEW Harvest Food Pantry. The building was completed and Bishop Christopher Coyne visited us to bless the building.
  • The side road the connects Calvert Farm and SSFC to Mullinex Road was completed.
  • Due to wear, tear and wind damage, we replaced the roof over the church and office area of the Assisi Center.
  • Saints Francis & Clare received Archdiocesan approval to build a columbarium, the first in the Archdiocese. The first columbarium wall was set in place and several of the niches are already occupied.
  • We recovered and repaired our campus after it was damaged by lightening--twice!