In the mid-1950s, the need for an Episcopal church to serve the rapidly growing southwest section of Durham was recognized. With the approval of the Right Reverend Edwin A. Penick, bishop of North Carolina, and with the support of the Vestry of St. Phillip's Church, the mission became reality in 1959. The first priest-in-charge was the Reverend John William Sutphin Davis. Thirty-one families had affiliated with St. Stephen's when the first service was held on July 5, 1959, on the newly aquired Kimberly Drive property. In May 1960, the Diocesan Convention granted parish stature to St. Stephen's, whose congregation then numbered 60 families. The first service in the new parish house was held on Thanksgiving Day, 1961. An education building was added in 1969.
After 14 years, during which the parish grew to 184 families, the Reverend Mr. Davis resigned as rector in 1973. The vestry called the Reverend Joshua Taylor MacKenzie to be rector in 1974. On May 30, 1976, we broke ground for a building that houses the church proper, and the first service was held in that building on January 29, 1978. Worship was further enhanced by the Nello L. Teer family's gift of a chapel in memory of Dorothy Foster Teer. Constructed in 1977, this chapel was placed within the original parish house in the area formerly occupied by the altar and the choir. As the church grew both spiritually and in number, the need for an assistant to the Rector became apparent and in 1979 the Reverend William Verdery Kerr was called to serve in this position. The parish has been faithfully served by assistants to the rector ever since.
The Reverend Mr. MacKenzie resigned in May 1986. In April 1987, a call was extended to the Reverend Robert D. Nix who, after settling in at St. Stephen's, presented a preaching, teaching and leadership style that was inconsistent with the parish. He resigned having served only 18 months. The interim period of approximately two years was a time of healing for the parish before a new rector could be called.
The Reverend Samuel Mason arrived in 1990, served for 13 years, and retired in May 2003. During his tenure, with the help of curates the Reverend June T. Chandler, the Reverend Lisa G. Fischbeck, the Reverend Susan Eastman, and the Reverend William Marschl, the youth program gained prominence and the young people went on two pilgrimages; the music program grew to the point we needed a full-time director, adding a handbell choir and reinvigorating the concert series; locally we entered into the Interfaith Hospitality Network and we helped establish Iglesia El Buen Pastor, a mission established to serve Durham's Hispanic community; we assumed a leadership role on behalf of the diocese in coordinating the Honduras Health Mission; and the preschool program gained national accreditation.
The Reverend James B.D. Corbett was called to be the interim priest in September 2003, and served the parish faithfully until 2005 when the vestry extended a call the the Reverend Robert K. Kaynor. Reverend Kaynor accepted the call and moved from Maryland to take the parish under his leadership. He was joined in the fall of 2006 by the Reverend Dr. Carol Jablonski (Mother Carol) who took up the position of Curate in the church. The clergy at St. Stephen's was further gifted in November of 2007 to recieve the Reverend Louane Frey as acting Deacon. In 2008, Mother Carol accepted her current position of Associate Rector
St. Stephen's also enjoys a tradition of supporting parishioners who are called to the priesthood, and we are happy to note the Ms. Elizabeth Shows, parishioner and daughter of Priest Associate Father Derek Shows, graduated from Union Seminary in 2009. We also provide internships to seminarians. The parish is blessed to have two students from Duke Divinity School interning with us (2008-2009), Reggie Simmons and Patrick Hunter.
