St Stephen The First Martyr Orthodox Church

Information may not be reliable

Many who are seeking faith and guidance in our society believe that there are only two choices when it comes to Christianity:  Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.  (Actually there are over 35,000 choices in the West:  Roman Catholicism and the countless different and sometimes opposing denominations that sprang from it in the fracturing Reformation.)

But more and more folks have discovered that there is another place to call home:  The One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that began at Pentecost and never stopped.  She survives intact, undivided and unchanged in doctrine and order of worship to this day.  It is the Orthodox Church -- a safe refuge from the bizarre upheavals found on the contemporary religious scene.

As the early Church grew, she lived as the "one flock" prayed for by Jesus Christ (John 10:16).  She was and is the Church of the martyrs and the fathers who defended the Faith with their whole lives.

In 1054 AD, the Bishop of Rome brought about the Great Schism, separating Rome and Western Europe from the rest of the Christian world, including Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The West came to be called the (Roman) Catholic Church, having been further divided by the Protestant Reformation and the previously unknown concept of Christian denominationalism. The Orthodox Christian East remained unchanged and undivided in Christ. In fact, every church entioned in the New Testament -- with the exception only of Rome -- was and is an Orthodox church.

In the 16th century, Orthodoxy came to America through Alaska, and, fed by immigration, spread across our continent, often appearing as ethnic groups.  In more recent years, the Orthodox Church has turned Her attention to all Americans who are seeking the fullness of faith and life in the Church of Jesus Christ.

At Saint Stephen's, all services are in English and people of all backgrounds are welcomed into Orthodoxy's life of communion with God and her calm yet unflinching resistance to the perversion of truth in the modern world.

We invite you to an oasis of authentic spiritual experience and the peace which comes from zealous spiritual warfare.

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!

Father Mark