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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.

 

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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
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Youth Confirmation

Youth Confirmation preparation, 2023-24 

Information sessions for parents and youth to learn about the program and expectations:

  • Wednesday, August 305:30-6:30 p.m.; gather at the baptismal font in the main church
  • Sunday, September 10, 1-2 p.m.; gather at the baptismal font in the main church

REGISTER HERE

What is Confirmation?

Confirmation is the Christian rite of passage in which a baptized person makes a public affirmation of their faith in Christ and commitment to follow Christ’s way of life. For young people, Confirmation also is a step across a primary threshold between childhood and early adulthood. The young person claims responsibility for the vows made to God on their behalf at Baptism by their parents and godparents (The Book of Common Prayer, 302-305). From this point forward, the confirmand exercises their agency to grow in faith and observance, otherwise known as discipleship. Confirmands thus affirm both their true identity in Christ and accept the implications of embodying the Christian way of sacrificial love, compassion, forgiveness, service, and trust in God. 

What are the aims of Confirmation preparation?

Our program provides youth, who typically participate during the ninth or tenth grade year, with a path and space for spiritual growth and maturation, an experience of Christian community among both peers and adults, times and spaces for authentic and brave engagement with the content of our faith, as well as learning practices for living joyfully and faithfully. 

What commitments do confirmands make to prepare themselves? 

The following key commitments will deeply prepare you to make a decision about whether you are ready to participate in the rite of Confirmation. 

  1. Participation in youth group and youth events: attend and participate in our bi-weekly youth group meetings and in special events like the Christmas pageant and service days (obviously, if you’re away, that’s ok). Being Christian is about having bonds with people you know and how know you. Youth Group meets on 1st and 3rd Sundays, 6:30 – 8:00, in the Small Fellowship Hall. Each evening begins with supper and then moves to activities, games, small group time, and prayers. 
  2. Participate weekly in an Episcopal Holy Eucharist. Sacramental life and weekly worship in community are foundational elements of Episcopal life because how we pray shapes how we believe, so we expect you to participate in worship weekly, be that at St. Stephen’s or another parish or institution. 
  3. Serve in a ministry of the church: The church is not a building, it’s a community of ministry, of people who give of what they have—time, energy, money, skills, etc.—to serve and worship in the name of God’s life and love. We want confirmands to experience church from the inside by active engagement in a ministry. This may be fulfilled in many ways: acolyting Sunday morning or serving in the evenings at the Celtic liturgy, helping make or serve the Sunday supper, serving at the farmers market on Saturday mornings, or another commitment of your choosing that is approved by the staff and clergy preparing you for Confirmation. This also entails involvement in special events (#1) such as the Advent Fair, Youth Pageant, Maundy Thursday Agape Meal, and Good Friday Stations of the Cross. 
  4. Mentorship: establish a mentoring relationship with a mature Christian in your life with whom you may bravely wonder and reflect about the great questions of faith and Christian experience. We expect you to meet with your mentor at least once each month. With parental guidance, confirmands are expected to identify a mentor, an adult of mature Christian faith, who may be a member of the family or a trusted family friend (excluding siblings). If needed, we can help match you with a mentor in the congregation. It is helpful though certainly not required if mentors read the Confirmation book. 
  5. Confirmation sessions and concluding retreat: these sessions (4th Sunday evenings except as noted below) and the retreat focus are a time to dig deeply into the core principles and patterns of being Christian. Each session is about the assigned chapter from My Faith, My Life by Jenifer Gamber. The concluding retreat ties it all together. Purchase your book at: https://www.churchpublishing.org/myfaithmylife 

We acknowledge that this program asks a substantial commitment from teens in the midst of important and demanding academic, extracurricular, and athletic commitments. We equally affirm our conviction that this way of preparation provides teens with everything they need to grow in faith and maturity so that they are prepared to claim their adult status in the church and responsibility for their own spiritual life.

How may parents support confirmands?

The very best way to support your young person on this journey is by walking with them on your own journey. One way is to read the adult Confirmation book by the same author, Your Faith, Your Life, and share your thoughts. Another possibility is to participate in any of the adult inquirers classes (offered in fall, winter, and spring), or to attend just those sessions that are of most interest. Either way, honest sharing with your teen about your own faith life is the most powerful way to grow as Christians. It may well be awkward at times, but taking on your own commitment to grow alongside your child will be a gift of immeasurable value, especially when you invite vulnerable conversation and wondering that focuses on direct experience and personal encounters rather than information and rote answers. Purchase your book at:

https://www.churchpublishing.org/yourfaithyourlife

Some teens’ schedules do not permit them to participate in the Confirmation sessions, so it always is possible instead to participate in one of the adult inquirers classes that meet at a different time, usually on Sunday mornings in the winter. For that matter, it is possible to do a self-study with a parent’s guidance. The confirmand upholds the other core participation commitments but engages with the material in a different way.   

Schedule

Confirmation Sessions, 6:30-8 p.m. // Small Fellowship Hall

Arrive having read the appointed chapter of My Faith, My Life

September 24 – Session 1, Chapter 1, Baptism and Confirmation: Beginnings
October 22 – Session 2, Chapter 8: Navigating the Church: From Local to Worldwide Church 
November 12 –Session 3, Chapter 2, Bible: Stories about Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow 
January 28 – Session 4, Chapter 3, Knowing our History 
February 25 – Session 5, Chapter 4, Faith: What Do We Believe? 
March 24 – Session 6, Chapter 5, Worship: Responding to God’s Blessings 
April 27-28 – Weekend Retreat, location TBD (in town, Roslyn, St. Stephen’s, etc.)
Chapter 6: The Sacraments: Signs of Grace
Chapter 7: Spirituality: Created for Prayer
Chapter 9: The Mission of God: What’s Your Ministry?
May (specific date TBA) – Bishop’s Visitation 

Staff Contact

The Rev. John Jenkins, associate rector  // email 
804.288.2867 

     

     

     

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