Sequence Preloader IconThree orange dots increasing in size from left to right
close

There's a place for you here.

New to Richmond? Unfamiliar with the Episcopal Church, or with Christianity? Welcome. 

Whoever you are, wherever you are in your spiritual journey, the people of St. Stephen's Church hope that your experience with this church will encourage and strengthen you. 

As you browse our Web site, you might consider: 

  • visiting St. Stephen's for a worship service and/or watching our livestreamed services

  • coming to an informal supper

  • stopping by the Farmers Market on Saturday morning

  • attending one of our receptions for visitors and newcomers

  • signing up for an Inquirers Class

  • subscribing to St. Stephen's weekly email, the eSpirit; there is no cost, no obligation, and we will not share your email address with any outside group

  • attending a retreat, workshop or group, or participating in any of the other offerings you'll see on these pages.

Do as much or as little as you like. There are no "requirements" for being a part of this community of faith. If you wish to be baptized or confirmed, or to transfer your membership from another Episcopal parish, we'd love for you to do so. But it's not required. Everything we do, everything we offer, is open to all, regardless of whether you are a "member" of this church. If you're here, you belong. 

Here's an online visitor card: it's not required--it just helps us to be more responsive to you!

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
6000 Grove Avenue
Richmond, VA 23226
804.288.2867

Our services

St. Stephen's is a vibrant parish offering several kinds of worship services. Sunday, of course, is our big day. You are most welcome at any of the services held here.

Sunday schedule (from the Sunday after Labor Day through the Sunday before Memorial Day)

8:00 a.m., Holy Eucharist: Rite One
9:00 a.m., Holy Eucharist: Rite Two*, in the main church and in Palmer Hall Chapel
10:10 a.m., Education for all ages*
11:15 a.m., Holy Eucharist, Rite Two*
5:30 p.m., Celtic Evensong and Communion
6:30 p.m., Sunday Community Supper
8:00 p.m., Compline

Sunday schedule (from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend)

8:00 a.m., Holy Eucharist: Rite One
10:00 a.m., Holy Eucharist: Rite Two*
5:30 p.m., Celtic Evensong and Communion*
6:30 p.m., Sunday Community Supper
8:00 p.m., Compline

*indicates child care available through age 4

Weekday worship

Year-round
8:10 a.m., Morning Prayer with Communion

(When the parish office is closed for a holiday or due to inclement weather, weekday Morning Prayer does not take place.) 

Where we're located

St. Stephen's is located at the corner of Three Chopt Road and Grove Avenue (the address is 600 Grove Avenue), near the University of Richmond and across the street from St. Catherine's School.

If you are coming to the church office, the most direct route is through the double glass doors to the parish house off the parking lot on Somerset.  If you're coming for a worship service, you can enter from Grove Avenue or Three Chopt Road.

Accessibility

There are several entrances to the church and parish house that are designed to be accessible to those with mobility issues or other physical limitations:

All entrances to the church, and the main entrance to the parish house, are equipped with power-assist doors. In addition, the main entrance to the parish house, from the large parking lot, has an elevator on the ground floor that allows you to bypass the steps. The Grove Avenue entrance to the main church is gently sloped, without steps, and the Three Chopt Road entrance has a ramp.

Inside the church, several pews are shortened to allow space for a wheelchair or walker: the first pews on either side of the center aisle, nearest the altar, and the pews near the large baptismal font.

The church is equipped with assistive hearing devices for the hearing-impaired. Please ask an usher for one of these devices as you enter the church.

From birth through high school

St. Stephen's Church has an active ministry for children and youth, staffed by an energetic and talented family ministries staff and dedicated, well-trained volunteers. Our family ministry staff sends an email newsletter to parents for which you may sign up.

Our main offering for young children is Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. For youth in grades 6-12, we use Journey to Adulthood. Both are highly regarded spiritual formation approaches.

We also strive to provide opportunities for parents to learn, grow, and receive support from other parents and from our clergy.

HOLY BAPTISM

Holy Baptism is available for babies, children, and adults. Read more about Baptism and preparation here.

CONFIRMATION 

At St. Stephen's, young people who desire to be confirmed in the Episcopal Church may enter the preparation process in the ninth grade or later. Confirmation takes place when one of our bishops visits St. Stephen's, usually in May.

Young adults

Young adults--single or partnered, with children or not, in college or working--are invited to take part in everything St. Stephen's has to offer, from worship to small groups, choirs to Sunday Community suppers, from outreach and volunteer activities to our environmental stewardship group.

We have tagged 20s and 30s as "young adulthood" but many who participate in young adult activities are in their 40s. The bottom line is, no one will ask you your age--if you think of yourself as a young adult, so do we!

While young adults at St. Stephen's sometimes gather with others in their age cohort, everyone is welcome to join a group or a class with adults of all ages. 

Children and teenagers love having adults who are closer to their age as teachers and mentors. You do not have to be a parent to serve in our ministries among children and youth.

Many young adults particularly enjoy the Compline service at St. Stephen's Church, held Sunday nights at 8 in the church. This ancient service is used as the last service of the day in monastic communities, cathedrals, churches, and schools, and many people say it in their homes. (It's found on page 127 of the Book of Common Prayer.) At St. Stephen's, the service is sung by a mixed a cappella choir. The choir chants prayers and psalms, interspersed with motets. It's an exquisite service, with candles (no other lighting) and incense. Those who attend sit in or lie on a pew in silence, praying, meditating or simply listening to the music. The service lasts just 30 minutes. 

We livestream our main Sunday morning service, our Celtic service, and Compline each Sunday. You'll find these on our Web site, on our Facebook page, and on our YouTube channel.

A fellowship

One of the distinctive things about being an Episcopalian is the sense of connection and fellowship one has with other Episcopalian Christians. St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is part of the Diocese of Virginia, one of the oldest and largest dioceses in the Episcopal Church. The Episcopal Church is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Our diocese includes 80,000 people who worship God and reach out to others in nearly 180 parishes in 38 counties in central, northern and northwestern Virginia. It is one of three Episcopal dioceses in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the others being the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia (based in Roanoke) and the Diocese of Southern Virginia (based in Norfolk). You can read more about the Diocese of Virginia at thediocese.net.

The best way to learn about what it means to be a Christian in the Episcopal tradition is to attend an inquirers class. This class usually meets once a week for seven weeks and is taught by our clergy two or three times each year.

 

close

Sunday Schedule

Holy Eucharist: 8:00, 9:00, 11:15

Christian Education for all ages: 10:10 (returning September)

OUR LOCATION

6000 Grove Avenue Richmond, VA 23226
sundayforumbanner.jpg

Sunday Forum

Looking for videos of past forums? Follow this link.

The Sunday Forum takes place 10:10 a.m.-11 a.m., September-May. You do not have to be a member to attend, and no registration is required. On most Sundays, St. Stephen's clergy or other staff members speak. On occasion, we welcome outstanding guest speakers. 

The forum will begin this fall with a four-part series, “What we stand for,” spelling out how the Christian faith grounds our life as a parish. Led by members of our clergy and staff, the series will trace Anglicanism, Scripture, and Christian tradition as the foundations of our distinctive faith community. Join this series and move deeper into our life together. 

Upcoming forum schedule

2024

Epiphany

As we begin a new year and a new season of the Sunday Forum, we offer a series that invites us into conversation and learning about several core spiritual practices, representing various ways of welcoming God’s presence into the rhythm of our daily lives.  

January 7
Spiritual Practices: Mindfulness meditation
The Rev. Gordon Peerman, with the Rev. William Sachs

January 14
Spiritual Practices: Contemplative prayer
The Rev. John Jenkins, Millie Cain, Patty Carpenter

January 21
Spiritual Practices: Sacramental worship 
Panel led by the Rev. William Stanley
Our vicar, Will Stanley, will lead a panel discussion with lay liturgical leaders who will reflect on how they see their service and ministry at St. Stephen’s as spiritual practice: Susan Wilkes (subdeacons), Earl Roney (chalice bearers), Daniel Mullery (readers), Ben Emerson (vergers), and Catherine Whitham (healing prayer ministers).

January 28
Spiritual Practices: Sabbath-keeping
The Rev. Cate Anthony and Cantor Sarah Beck-Berman

The annual meeting will take place at 10:10 a.m. on February 4. Read more

February 11
The Spirituality of Baseball
The Rev. John Rohrs
In preparation for the start of spring training, John Rohrs will offer a presentation on the spirituality of baseball, combining personal stories, reflections, and movie clips with insights from the book Baseball as a Road to God by John Sexton.  

Lent

Looking within and learning from without

The Sunday Forum at St. Stephen’s Church will strike an important balance in the coming weeks. During the season of Lent, we are urged to look inward in search of personal healing and spiritual growth. In order to look closely within ourselves, we must look outward to see the world with renewed hope. Descriptions of these topics are available here.

February 18: The Spiritual Life in Lent; St. Stephen's clergy
February 25: Seen From Richmond: The Holy Land We Share; Rabbi Michael R. Knopf and Prof. Imad Damaj
March 3: Our Church’s Witness Amid Conflict; the Very Rev. Richard Sewell
March 10: On The Ground in Israel Now; Marvin Daniel
March 17: Many Threads, One Garment; St. Stephen's clergy

March 24: Palm Sunday (no Forum)
March 31: Easter Day (no Forum)

Easter Season
April 7, 14, and 21: Heaven and Hell

No images capture our religious hopes and fears more than heaven and hell. In the weeks following Easter, no contrasts offer a more energetic basis for discussions of faith. But where do the themes of heaven and hell come from and why do they touch us so deeply? What truth do they hold for us as followers of Christ? For the three Sundays after Easter, our Forum presentations will address the meaning of heaven and hell.

April 7, “Scriptural understandings of heaven and hell”

The Rev. Dr. Sam Adams, an ordained Presbyterian minister and professor at Union Seminary in Richmond, will share key examples from the Hebrew scriptures of Jewish understandings of the afterlife and how they influenced the teaching of Jesus and the language and imagery he used (e.g. eternal life, kingdom of heaven, hell/Gehenna and the weeping of gnashing of teeth, etc.) as recorded in the gospel narrative.

April 14, “Heaven and Hell in Western Literature: Case Studies”

Gardner Campbell, VCU professor and St. Stephen’s parishioner, expands the scope of our discussion. For centuries, writers have imagined afterlives of perpetual blessedness or eternal damnation. Between the unknown of eternal bliss and the torments of loss and separation, these writers bring theological concepts to life in ways that can illuminate our daily lives as well as our devotion. We’ll consider some of these representations in works by Dante, Milton, Blake, Dickinson, Moore, and C. S. Lewis.

April 21, “Getting Saved in American Religion”

Speaking in terms of a living faith, Bill Sachs will draw together the themes we have discussed. His focus will be on what “salvation” means for American Christians now. Does being a Christian center on going to heaven rather than being condemned to hell? The influence of evangelical religion has stamped faith and life for millions of people. What might this mean for us as Episcopalians today? Must we think in terms of heaven and hell to define who we are? This presentation will bring our Forum discussions home.

Celebrating 50 years of the ordination of women

April 28

On Sunday, April 28, the Rev. Cate Anthony will be joined by the Rev. Weezie Blanchard, our former vicar, to discuss the journey from the ordination of the "Philadelphia Eleven" 50 years ago this summer, to today. Weezie will also be our guest preacher in the 9 and 11:15 a.m. service that morning, and the Rev. Penny Nash will be the reflector in the Celtic service that evening.  

May 5

Sunday, May 5, is the date for the bishop's annual visit to St. Stephen's; there will be no Forum that day, but we will have receptions following the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services. 

Forum livestream and recordings

Last year we began livestreaming the Sunday Forum. Because the conclusion of the 9 a.m. service takes place so close to the beginning of the Forum, these two events are provided in one continuous stream. If you watch the 9 a.m. service online and/or you watch the Sunday Forum, you can find either/both on Sunday livestream page. There will be a period between the service and the forum where you'll see a message on the screen, and perhaps hear background noise. Just be aware that the Forum will begin as soon as folks settle into their seats in the Fellowship Hall. We aim for 10:10 a.m.

Make sure you have ONLY ONE page with a video open while you're watching the livestream, or you'll hear conflicting audio streams.

To see recordings of the Forum, visit this page.

Previous forum topics

From the first "semester" of this program year.

September 17
What we stand for
Introduction to four-part series with St. Stephen’s clergy

September 24
What we stand for: Anglican ethos
The Rev. Cate Anthony and the Rev. William Sachs

October 1
What we stand for: The Bible as foundation
The Rev. John Rohrs and the Rev. Abby Kocher

October 8
What we stand for: The Christian Life
The Rev. William Sachs and the Rev. William Stanley 

October 15
One Body. One Spirit. One Hope.
The Rev. John Rohrs, the Rev. William Stanley, Al Albiston, Debbie Dunlap, Will Paulette

October 22
Faith in Public Life: Living in mission
Heidi Schmidt and Monica Vega, St. Stephen’s missionaries in Argentina

October 29
Faith in Public Life: Lifelong formation
Jamelle Wilson of the University of Richmond, and Tom Cox, St. Stephen’s parishioner and attorney

November 5
No Forum (Baptism celebrations)

November 12
Faith in Public Life: A life of service
Richard V. Spencer, former Secretary of the Navy

November 19
Parish update with vestry and staff leaders

November 26
No Sunday Forum (Advent Fair)

December 3
Advent I
The Rev. Martin Smith: Deepening Our Faith in the Salvation of All
Additional details about Martin Smith, his forum topic, and an Advent Quiet Day he will lead, are here.

December 10
Advent II
A program on Advent music with Diana Chou, St. Stephen’s associate director of music, and the Rev. William S. Stanley, vicar (To see Diana's slide deck more clearly, you can download this PDF.)

December 17
No Forum (Youth Christmas Pageant)

December 24 and 31
No Forum

 

login