The church is home to Sacred Heart Parish, part of the West Hillsborough Deanery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Petersburg.

[3] The parish operated a school, Sacred Heart Academy, which it established in 1931, on Florida Avenue in the city's Tampa Heights neighborhood.

Previously affiliated with Sacred Heart Parish was another Tampa institution, Jesuit High School, founded in 1899, which thrives today.

In 2005, after the 100th anniversary of Sacred Heart Church, the Jesuit community which had long served the parish withdrew in order to concentrate on their academic institutions throughout the South.

Robert Lynch, invited the Franciscan Friars of the Most Holy Name of Jesus Province to assume the pastoral responsibilities for the parish.