WELCOME, AGAIN, TO OUR COMMUNITY OF CHRISTIAN BELIEVERS!
We are ready, called by Christ with joy, to be your faithful family!
About St. Stephen’s Faith Family
Fueled by solid worship, deep study, and active education, St. Stephen’s gathers those who would know Christ and out of that transformative journey seek to share Christ to the world. The result of finding Christ in ourselves and in our neighbors leads us to undertake life changing and lifesaving ministries in Huntsville and the surrounding communities. 

 

THE DEEP ROOTS OF THIS PARISH
As one of Huntsville’s oldest congregations, St. Stephen’s roots go back to the first meetings of Episcopalians at the courthouse with Missionary George Washington Freeman in 1849. Shortly after those meetings in 1854, St. Stephen’s parish was admitted to the Diocese. The first cornerstone for the first church building was laid in 1869. Those faithful Episcopalians in Huntsville kept meeting through several buildings and locations. Even after a fire destroyed their church, their faith persisted. With the ebb and flow of professional clergy, both priests and deacons alike, the faithful at St. Stephen’s continued to serve each other and the community. The year 2019 marked the 150th year since that first cornerstone was laid. We celebrated a jubilee not realizing what was coming next. Yet, even in our Covid-19 distanced-world we have adapted and continued to meet and serve like those faithful Episcopalians who laid both our physical and spiritual foundations here in Huntsville at St. Stephens Episcopal Church.
Beliefs, Values and Aspirations
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
To Know Christ and to Make Him Known to All People
OUR CORE VALUES
WE WORSHIP through prayer and sacraments
WE SHARE God’s love through His word
WE SERVE our local community, the greater church and the world
WE CELEBRATE joyfully sharing our lives together
OUR VISION AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
  • Continuing development of church grounds and implementation of a land use plan
  • Deepening our involvement in all aspects of our church community
  • Supporting participation by congregants in activities beyond worship services
  • Ministering to families with children and youth
  • Reaching out to new people and welcoming them into our church community
  • Providing opportunities for spiritual development across all stages of life
  • Expanding outreach ministries to provide direct services to those living on the margins of society.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ST. STEPHEN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Huntsville, Texas
St. Stephen’s has its roots before it was a parish.  In 1849 Missionary George Washington Freemans visited with Huntsville’s Episcopalians and preached at the courthouse. In these early years the congregation would worship in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church building, the Oddfellows Hall, and an upper room in the courthouse. There were 10 communicants. In 1854, the parish was admitted to the diocese.
In 1868 a lot for the original building was purchased. The cornerstone for this church was laid in 1869.  Despite the financial burdens of the post-Civil War U.S. and a Yellow Fever epidemic, the building was completed and cleared of debt between 1871 and 1873. Reverend Jeremiah Ward was made rector of St. Stephen’s in 1871. He would serve the congregation until his death in 1894. He is buried in Huntsville.
In 1904 a new church building, our second, was built. By 1907 St Stephen’s had grown to 39 communicants and 22 Sunday school pupils. The Reverend D. Griffen Gunn was rector.
By 1921 St. Stephen’s had been moved from a parish back to a mission.
On Sunday, March 12, 1931 there was an early morning fire at St Stephen’s. The church was totally destroyed.
From then until the 1940’s it is reported that WWII delayed construction of a new building. During this time the congregation gathered at the Huntsville Funeral Home, a downtown store building, the homes of some parishioners and once again the Presbyterians showed us their hospitality.  Reverend Richard Sturgis served as vicar from 1936-1940. On November 28, 1948, a new building, our third, was completed and formally dedicated by Bishop Quinn. The membership was small, but it began to grow as Huntsville entered a time of prosperity and growth.
In 1959 the congregation moved locations again. This time the congregation gathered on a piece of property adjacent to Sam Houston State University. St. Stephen’s was readmitted to parish status in 1973. The Reverend A.T. Knies who had been serving as vicar became rector. The congregation had grown from 24 to 211.
In 1989 the university purchased St. Stephen’s location and asked the church to move. In August of 1992, St Stephen’s purchased the large, wooded property where it now stands.
Prior to the arrival of The Rev. William Blake Rider, our most recent beloved rectors were The Rev. Viktoria Gotting, who served from 2021 to 2022, The Rev. James Morgan, who served from 1994 until his retirement in 2015, and The Rev. Kellaura Johnson, our first woman Rector, who served from 2016 to 2020, and who continues her active ministry with the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
St. Stephen's is a member parish of The Episcopal Diocese of Texas (epicenter.org), and a congregation of The Episcopal Church USA (episcopalchurch.org). 

 

We Episcopalians believe in a loving, liberating, and life-giving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As constituent members of the Anglican Communion in the United States, we are descendants of and partners with the Church of England and the Scottish Episcopal Church, and are part of the third largest group of Christians in the world.

We believe in following the teachings of Jesus Christ, whose life, death, and resurrection saved the world. We believe that God loves you – no exceptions.