St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Durham, NC

In 1957, three local families took the first steps toward establishing a mission church in the rapidly growing southwest section of Durham.

In 1959, with the approval of The Rt. Rev. Edwin A. Penick, Bishop of North Carolina, and with support of the vestry at St. Philip’s Church in downtown Durham, the mission church became a reality.

The founding of the church dates to an organizational meeting at Hope Valley School on April 21, 1959. St. Stephen’s first Priest-in-Charge, The Rev. John William Sutphin Davis and his wife, Sarah, both attended. Frank Kenan was elected senior warden and the congregation selected the name “St. Stephen’s” for the new mission. Stephen was one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food and charitable aid to the poor in the early church.

Thirty families were affiliated with St. Stephen’s when the first service was held July 5, 1959, on the grounds of the newly acquired church property on Kimberly Drive. On May 10, 1960, the diocesan convention granted parish status for St. Stephen’s, whose congregation then numbered 60 families. The church members met at Hope Valley School until the completion of the parish house. Architect G. Milton Small Associates of Raleigh was retained to design a parish house, and ground was broken on March 12, 1961.

In January 1976, funds were made available by the Sarah Graham Kenan Foundation to build a church building for St. Stephen’s. G. Milton Small Associates of Raleigh was again retained as architect and the Nello Teer Company as contractor. Groundbreaking for the new building was the Sunday after the Ascension, May 30, 1976.

On January 29, 1978, the first service was held in the new church. Two outstanding features of the building are the stained-glass windows designed by Leandro Velasco and executed by Rambusch Studio, and the Flentrop organ built for St. Stephen’s by the Flentrop Organ Company of Zaandam, Holland. The dedication of St. Stephen’s Church to the Glory of God was again on the Sunday after the Ascension, May 7, 1978.

A contract was signed in July, 2022 for a complete refurbishment and restoration of the organ. Completion is in the late fall of 2024.