St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish is entering its last Christmas season after 161 years of service in the downtown Portland area.
Earlier this month, the ancient church, which began holding services in 1863, declared that the next holiday season would be its final one. Parishioners were informed on Facebook by diocese officials on November 21 that services must conclude by February 1.
The post stated, “We are extremely saddened and disappointed by this news.”
Throughout its history, the church has housed a number of groups that support downtown Portland, particularly its homeless population, demonstrating its longstanding commitment to social justice.
The ordination of four men to the Episcopal priesthood at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in 1962 was followed by Holy Communion. Bishop James WF Carman was joined for the ceremony by about 28 priests from the diocese. From 1892 to 1973, St. Stephen’s was the Bishop’s Cathedral.Oregonians
The future ofSt. Stephen s Episcopal Parish, located at 1432 S.W. 13th Ave., has been an ongoing discussion for some time now, said the Rev. Brendan Barnicle, part of Bishop Diana Akiyama s relocation team and the rector at St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church in Wilsonville.
From 2017 until 2019, Barnicle was the rector of St. Stephen’s, where he was ordained. He claimed that the congregation had altered and shrunk in size even in recent years. While membership was closer to 100 in the early 2000s, average Sunday attendance dropped from 60 in 2018 to roughly 15 in 2022 and 2023, he said.
According to Barnicle, St. Stephen’s has also had serious property issues.
The parish has been housed in the Southwest 13th Avenue building for over a century, but it was initially designed to be a temporary structure following a string of church arsons in the 1920s. Today, he said, the building requires repairs to the basement, as well as to the gutters and drainage system.
Rather than a closure, Barnicle said, he sees the transition as more of a resurrection for the church.
The congregation has always been very committed to social justice and very committed to outreach, he said. It will be able to do that even more fully in this new configuration.
The Episcopal Church in Western Oregon is in the process of negotiating the sale of the building toOperation Nightwatch, according to a Dec. 11 statement from Bishop Akiyama. The group currently offers nighttime hospitality within the St. Stephen s sanctuary three nights a week and has sincepartnered with nonprofit Blanchet Houseto turn the space into a women s shelter that would open in spring 2025.
The parish will continue to host standard Sunday morning services at 10:30 each week through Feb. 1 but even once the building is sold, parishioners would be able to worship at St. Stephen s chapel, a small room that can fit up to 30 people, Barnicle said.
In this case, the congregation would transition from a parish, a congregation that can financially support itself, to a mission, a smaller group that receives support from the diocese. Bishop Akiyama will work with the congregation if they decide to follow this path, Barnicle said.
Part of our task as a church is to steward the resources that we ve been blessed with, he said. Given the needs that exist in downtown Portland, being able to utilize that space in a way that serves more of God s people was very consistent with the mission of the Episcopal Church.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish is located on the corner of Southwest 13th Avenue and Clay Street.Samantha Swindler
Even as it moves into this newly bittersweet era, St. Stephen s is preparing to welcome community members through its bright red doors for one final Christmas season a period that officially begins Dec. 24 at sundown.
Christians prepare for Christmas during Advent, a monthlong season that starts four Sundays before Dec. 25. It s a quieter period of observation, associated with reflection and preparation for the celebration of Jesus birth. Christmas Eve then kicks off the Christmas season, which goes on for 12 nights and ends on Jan. 5 a day known as Epiphany, marking when the Magi, or Three Wise Men, visited baby Jesus with gifts.
At St. Stephen s, the church s physical Christmastime transformation happens only once Advent is over. This year s greening of the church will take place around noon Sunday the fourth and final night of Advent, said senior warden Christy McMurtry, who s been with the church for more than 60 years.
We put out greens, and we fill the candles, she said. We put out lots of poinsettias.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish is located on the corner of Southwest 13th Avenue and Clay Street.Samantha Swindler
The church will be fully decorated just in time for its slate of Christmas season events, beginning with a Christmas Eve service Dec. 24. Music will start at 7:30 p.m., followed by Eucharist at 8.
On Jan. 5, the church will host an all-day Epiphany celebration starting with a 10:30 a.m. service followed by an open house through 9 p.m. filled with food, festivities and recollection. Church leaders hope it will be a time for parishioners to share memories of the church and take photos before sacramental items like altars and pews are eventually removed.
That s the day that we were hoping we could really make sure people know that they can come, McMurtry said. There ll be food and time to reminisce and tell stories.
Jared Brayton Bollenbacher leads the Seattle gay-straight alliance choir Diverse Harmony at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish in Portland in June 2013.Doug Beghtel
St. Stephen s Day falls on Dec. 26, McMurtry said, so the parish is taking the opportunity to offer extra hospitality in the sanctuary that evening through Operation Nightwatch.
The organization is one of several local programs once housed within the Southwest 13th Avenue church.Clay Street Table, a meals program and food pantry, began at St. Stephen s Episcopal Parish in 2010 before moving to First Christian Church. Others, likeJourney Koinonia, an inclusive catholic community, have only recently made plans to relocate.
The group, which currently has about 40 active members, has met at St. Stephen s every Sunday for more than three decades. It s a beautiful space, said Sam Gioia, part of Journey Koinoia s pastoral leadership team and one that has hosted countless baptisms, weddings and funerals over the years.
St. Stephen s opened their doors to us in 1989 and provided not only a physical space for us, but friendship and community that we ve enjoyed for the past 35 years, he said.
After learning of St. Stephen s closure, the group erected a site committee to begin scouting new spaces and has since accepted the invitation to move into First United Methodist Church on Southwest Jefferson Street, Gioia said.
Journey Koinonia sfinal service at St. Stephen s will be its early Christmas service at 6 p.m. Sunday. Services will then be solely virtual on Zoom through the beginning of February, when in-person Sunday meetings will resume at First United Methodist Church.
St. Stephen s Episcopal Parish boasts a long, progressive history much of which has revolved around supporting marginalized communities.
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Parish is located on the corner of Southwest 13th Avenue and Clay Street.Samantha Swindler
The parish was one of the first Episcopal churches to accept Black members in the 1920s, welcomed Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II and was a haven for LBGTQ+ individuals in the 1980s, according to the church website. In the 1960s, it was the first church in Portland to marry an interracial couple.
We stand on many people s work before us. I m amazed at what s happened from such simple beginnings, McMurtry said. The building will be different, but the work will still be getting done somewhere, somehow, God will keep providing.
Veronica Nocera covers life and culture. You can reach her [email protected], 503-221-8111 or@vernocera
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