welcome

St. Stephen's is a vital center for hospitality, education, arts and music, and outreach and mission.  We have partnered with local schools and universities, other churches, and service agencies in town and around the world.  Our parish family includes folks from many walks of life around the Triangle area, and who come to this special place set apart for “growing disciples,” and from which we undertake God’s work in the world. 

Current circumstances have provided an exciting opportunity for us to explore new and creative ways to engage with one another and with our community.  New live and recorded services of worship, and programs for spiritual and educational development offer those who cannot be with us in person the chance to participate in our mission and ministries.

We invite you to grow with us as part of a worshiping, learning, and serving community.  Please explore our website and let us know how we may help you find a home and a ministry at St. Stephen’s.

St. Stephen’s is part of The Episcopal Church, which is itself part of the Anglican Communion, the third largest Christian community. This global community traces its origins to the start of the Church of England in 1534. 

So, worshipping at St. Stephen’s is a bit like stepping back in time. You’ll hear the pipe organ playing hymns, choir and congregation singing, and Scripture being read. You’ll notice candles burning on the altar and priests in clothes (we call them “vestments”) colored to match the times of the Church year. You’ll see people kneeling in prayer, and some of the words they say can be traced back centuries, even millennia in some cases. In this sense, you might call our worship “traditional.”

But St. Stephen’s is also modern. We carry this tradition into the present using The Book of Common Prayer, and the words and songs you will hear are in familiar, contemporary language and address the needs and concerns of this moment. We pray for one another and for the world. You’ll also hear the laughter of children and see the smiles of familiar faces. 

Our worship culminates each week in the Eucharist (which means Thanksgiving), or Communion, the sacrament that has been at the heart of Christian worship since Jesus gathered with his disciples to break bread and share a cup of wine at the Last Supper. Each time the priest blesses and shares the elements of bread and the wine with the people, we believe that Christ is truly and really present—in these elements and in our community gathered around the table. 

We feel it’s this mix of ancient and modern that leads people to say that attending worship at St. Stephen’s feels like “home.” It is deeply rooted but expressed anew through the connections we make with one another when we worship together.