History of St. Stephen's 1952-2024
In 1952 the first Episcopal suburbanites of Beaumont’s west end began to meet in various homes to consider the formation of a new parish church to serve their area. After less than three months of deliberation, and urged on by the rector of St. Mark’s in downtown Beaumont-The Rev. Charlie Wyatt-Brown, ten of those families petitioned the Bishop of Texas to establish a new mission congregation. Ten families came together to form the new church, Mr. and Mrs. Lyman Brewer, Mr. and Mrs. Scott Coleman, Mr. and Mrs. Charles G. Cox, Mr. and Mrs. Butler Crittenden, IV, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Dodson, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Henderson, Mr. and Mrs. L.L. Lehman, Mr. and Mrs. Everett Lord, Mr. and Mrs. James Mehaffey, Jr. and Mr. and Mrs. Pike Powers.
The Rt. Rev. John Hines, then Bishop Coadjutor of Texas, and the Council of the Diocese of Texas quickly responded to the ten families with approval for the new mission. With the enthusiastic and generous support of St. Mark’s Church, the fledgling St. Stephen’s grew rapidly. While it is not of historical significance, the parish was first named “St. Paul’s”. However, when it was discovered a local Methodist Church earlier garnered that name, the parish leaders chose the name of the first martyr-St. Stephen.
In its early years, St. Stephen’s was jokingly referred to as “St. Plettman’s” for the parish’s first building was a storage room adjacent to Plettman’s Food Store on the corner of Central and Gladys Drives. The first service of Holy Eucharist at St. Plettman’s was celebrated by Fr. Wyatt-Brown at 7:00 AM on Sunday, January 25, 1953. Supporting ministries formed quickly within the parish family: the Women of St. Stephen’s was established in the fall of 1952, and the Sunday School was formed in the spring of 1953.
Moving with extreme deliberation, St. Stephen’s, through the Diocese of Texas, acquired the beautifully wooded eleven acres on Delaware Street in February of 1953. Bishop Hines led the congregation in a service of Holy Eucharist and groundbreaking at the site on February 15. One month to the day, the St. Stephen’s congregation bid a fond farewell to St. Plettman’s and began worshipping in a temporary building purchased from one of the local school districts. Attendance at the new sight rose significantly to an average of nearly 100 per Sunday.
St. Stephen’s called a vicar in May of 1953 and built and dedicated its first permanent building in December of that same year. The Rev. Frank Doremus became St. Stephen’s first clergyman. That first building, dedicated by the Rt. Rev. Clinton Quinn, Bishop of Texas, now houses the offices of the parish. Fr. Doremus resigned as vicar of St. Stephen’s on July 8, 1956, to accept a call to serve as a professor at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.
The Rev. Ray Ryland was called to serve as the second vicar of St. Stephen’s, but he was not “vicar” for long, as the January 24, 1957 Diocesan Council, held in Galveston, bestowed on St. Stephen’s full parish status. Thus, Fr. Ryland became St. Stephen’s first “rector”. During those four years since the inaugural worship service at “St. Plettman’s”, the original ten families had grown to 180 active parish families.
St. Stephen’s continued to move forward with a substantial 400-seat sanctuary planned, designed, and built during Fr. Ryland’s watch. The building was dedicated on Easter Day 1959 by then diocesan Bishop John Hines. Furthermore, attendance steadily grew with the population in those boom years. Just four months after the dedication of the magnificent stone sanctuary, Fr. Ryland resigned as St. Stephen’s first rector to assume duties as chaplain at Casady Episcopal School in Oklahoma City. By the time Fr. Ryland left St. Stephen’s, however, attendance had grown to over 250 per Sunday.
At the Thanksgiving communion, November 26, 1959, the Reverend Gordon Swope began his ministry as second rector of St. Stephen’s. During his tenure, St. Stephen’s began to step out in outreach ministries to the larger community. Sunday attendance climbed to the 300 mark during these golden years for St. Stephen’s. With only one month shy of six years as rector, Gordon Swope resigned on March 14, 1965, to become Archdeacon of the Diocese of Arkansas. Then after a six-month search, the Vestry of St. Stephen’s called the Reverend John C. Donovan to be rector.
By 1970, the parish seemed no longer in its infancy but solidly in its adolescence. The sanctuary, therefore, was furnished with pews, replacing the cathedral chairs the congregation had utilized for the prior eleven years. Additionally, because the core parish membership had stabilized, enhancements were made to the two parish buildings, the eleven-acre campus and the rectory.
The parish intensified its outreach ministry as well. The most ambitious of these ministries was a program entitled “Project Concern,” which was the first recycling effort in the city of Beaumont. From the home base of St. Stephen’s campus, Project Concern recycled aluminum, glass, paper, and metal. Considering the population of Beaumont was some 80,000 at the time, the confidence of the parish was impressive.
In July of 1971, Fr. Donovan resigned his rector ship of St. Stephen’s to serve as rector of the Episcopal Church of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Five months later, on September 15, 1971, the Rev. Byron Crocker accepted the call to serve as the fourth rector and fifth clergyman in fifteen years at St. Stephen’s Church. Fr. Crocker would serve his parish longer than all his predecessors combined.
The Naomi Chapter of the Daughters of the King was founded in April of 1972, and the women assisted the rector in the visitation and care of the hospitalized and homebound. Also, in 1972 St. Stephen’s was asked to be a founding parish of the Inter-Faith Lenten Preaching Series. This high-profile, cooperative program is the oldest sustained ecumenical effort in Beaumont.
The groundbreaking for the multi-purpose “Broce Hall” was on Ash Wednesday 1977, and the building was completed eight months later. The parish also bought a new spacious rectory in 1977.
The Rev. Ben Shawhan served as associate rector at St. Stephen’s from 1979-1987.
On the first Sunday after Epiphany, January 13, 1991, Byron Crocker resigned his rector ship; in October of that same year, the Rev. Knute Jacobson was called as the fifth rector of St. Stephen’s. In the first two years of Fr. Jacobson’s four years as rector Sunday worship numbers went from the 150’s to the 180’s.
On July 9, 1995, the Rev. Gary Jones began a one-year term as “Locum Tenens”. Then on August 11, 1996, the Rev. Patrick Gahan accepted the call to St. Stephen’s. Fr. Gahan’s first Sunday saw only 128 worshippers at two services, but by August of 1998, the Sunday total had grown to 246. During Fr. Gahan’s rectorship ship the Nursery portable was added in 1998, and the Christian Education portable in 2000. The Anne Day Memorial Prayer Garden was dedicated in 2001.
In August of 2001, Fr. Gahan left to become chaplain at St. James Academy in Maryland. The Rev. Paul Wehner came to them fresh from seminary in 2001 and was ordained to the priesthood while at St. Stephen’s. Fr. Wehner left St. Stephen’s in 2002 to become rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Galveston, Texas.
The Rev. Jim Smalley came to St. Stephen’s in 2003 but resigned his rectorship in 2004 for personal reasons.
The Rev. Roland Timberlake served as Interim Rector from 2004 until early 2005.
On the first Sunday in April of 2005, the Rev. Rick Conrad arrived at St. Stephen’s to begin his rectorship. In the fall of 2007, Rev. Conrad left to form his own church.
2008 saw the arrival of the Rev. Nancy DeForest who served as Acting Rector until 2009. On January 4, 2009, the Rev. Nancy DeForest was installed as the eighth rector of St. Stephen’s.
In 2008 St. Stephen’s hired a Diocesan consultant to help plan the next phase. With the completion of a Mission Statement, Core Values, and a vision for its future, St. Stephen’s moved forward in its call “to be a welcoming, spiritual family where the love of Christ lives and grows in the power of the Holy Spirit.” In January 2011 the Cleo Johnson/Alice Roberts Christian Education Building was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. Dena Harrison.
2012 saw a reevaluation of our goals and vision for St. Stephen’s and with that a more streamlined Mission Statement and a new logo. Our new Mission Statement of “Love God, Share Jesus, and Rejoice in the Spirit” has been incorporated into our new logo. In October 2012, St. Stephen’s celebrated its 60th Anniversary. The Rev. Paul Wehner returned as guest preacher for the event, with several past rectors in attendance and there was a lovely meal and reception after the service.
When Rev. DeForest retired on June 5, 2016, the Rev. Ann Normand joined us on July 10, 2016, to guide us through the transition.
The Rev. Steven M. Balke, Jr.’s first Sunday with St. Stephen’s was June 18, 2017. During Rev. Balke’s time at St. Stephen’s, several difficult events took place. August 31, 2017, saw one of the most devastating hurricanes to ever hit southeast Texas and the United States. Hurricane Harvey left 125 billion dollars in damage in its wake. Homes and businesses were flooded with up to seven feet of water, there was no electricity, and the pumping station was underwater leaving the entire city without running water. St. Stephen’s stepped up and opened the doors to the wider community, cooking hot meals and serving as a distribution center for all manner of items necessary for restarting. In May of 2018 an explosive device was detonated at St. Stephen’s as part of a short-lived series of bombings in Beaumont. No one was harmed in the explosion and the damage was minor. Then there was COVID 19. Rev. Balke left at the end of February 2022.
The Rev. Jim Liberatore joined us in May of 2022 to help us heal and begin to rebuild.
St. Stephen’s is now in the beginning stages of searching for our next rector. We are prayerfully looking to the future and what God has in store for us.
The Rt. Rev. John Hines, then Bishop Coadjutor of Texas, and the Council of the Diocese of Texas quickly responded to the ten families with approval for the new mission. With the enthusiastic and generous support of St. Mark’s Church, the fledgling St. Stephen’s grew rapidly. While it is not of historical significance, the parish was first named “St. Paul’s”. However, when it was discovered a local Methodist Church earlier garnered that name, the parish leaders chose the name of the first martyr-St. Stephen.
In its early years, St. Stephen’s was jokingly referred to as “St. Plettman’s” for the parish’s first building was a storage room adjacent to Plettman’s Food Store on the corner of Central and Gladys Drives. The first service of Holy Eucharist at St. Plettman’s was celebrated by Fr. Wyatt-Brown at 7:00 AM on Sunday, January 25, 1953. Supporting ministries formed quickly within the parish family: the Women of St. Stephen’s was established in the fall of 1952, and the Sunday School was formed in the spring of 1953.
Moving with extreme deliberation, St. Stephen’s, through the Diocese of Texas, acquired the beautifully wooded eleven acres on Delaware Street in February of 1953. Bishop Hines led the congregation in a service of Holy Eucharist and groundbreaking at the site on February 15. One month to the day, the St. Stephen’s congregation bid a fond farewell to St. Plettman’s and began worshipping in a temporary building purchased from one of the local school districts. Attendance at the new sight rose significantly to an average of nearly 100 per Sunday.
St. Stephen’s called a vicar in May of 1953 and built and dedicated its first permanent building in December of that same year. The Rev. Frank Doremus became St. Stephen’s first clergyman. That first building, dedicated by the Rt. Rev. Clinton Quinn, Bishop of Texas, now houses the offices of the parish. Fr. Doremus resigned as vicar of St. Stephen’s on July 8, 1956, to accept a call to serve as a professor at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest.
The Rev. Ray Ryland was called to serve as the second vicar of St. Stephen’s, but he was not “vicar” for long, as the January 24, 1957 Diocesan Council, held in Galveston, bestowed on St. Stephen’s full parish status. Thus, Fr. Ryland became St. Stephen’s first “rector”. During those four years since the inaugural worship service at “St. Plettman’s”, the original ten families had grown to 180 active parish families.
St. Stephen’s continued to move forward with a substantial 400-seat sanctuary planned, designed, and built during Fr. Ryland’s watch. The building was dedicated on Easter Day 1959 by then diocesan Bishop John Hines. Furthermore, attendance steadily grew with the population in those boom years. Just four months after the dedication of the magnificent stone sanctuary, Fr. Ryland resigned as St. Stephen’s first rector to assume duties as chaplain at Casady Episcopal School in Oklahoma City. By the time Fr. Ryland left St. Stephen’s, however, attendance had grown to over 250 per Sunday.
At the Thanksgiving communion, November 26, 1959, the Reverend Gordon Swope began his ministry as second rector of St. Stephen’s. During his tenure, St. Stephen’s began to step out in outreach ministries to the larger community. Sunday attendance climbed to the 300 mark during these golden years for St. Stephen’s. With only one month shy of six years as rector, Gordon Swope resigned on March 14, 1965, to become Archdeacon of the Diocese of Arkansas. Then after a six-month search, the Vestry of St. Stephen’s called the Reverend John C. Donovan to be rector.
By 1970, the parish seemed no longer in its infancy but solidly in its adolescence. The sanctuary, therefore, was furnished with pews, replacing the cathedral chairs the congregation had utilized for the prior eleven years. Additionally, because the core parish membership had stabilized, enhancements were made to the two parish buildings, the eleven-acre campus and the rectory.
The parish intensified its outreach ministry as well. The most ambitious of these ministries was a program entitled “Project Concern,” which was the first recycling effort in the city of Beaumont. From the home base of St. Stephen’s campus, Project Concern recycled aluminum, glass, paper, and metal. Considering the population of Beaumont was some 80,000 at the time, the confidence of the parish was impressive.
In July of 1971, Fr. Donovan resigned his rector ship of St. Stephen’s to serve as rector of the Episcopal Church of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Five months later, on September 15, 1971, the Rev. Byron Crocker accepted the call to serve as the fourth rector and fifth clergyman in fifteen years at St. Stephen’s Church. Fr. Crocker would serve his parish longer than all his predecessors combined.
The Naomi Chapter of the Daughters of the King was founded in April of 1972, and the women assisted the rector in the visitation and care of the hospitalized and homebound. Also, in 1972 St. Stephen’s was asked to be a founding parish of the Inter-Faith Lenten Preaching Series. This high-profile, cooperative program is the oldest sustained ecumenical effort in Beaumont.
The groundbreaking for the multi-purpose “Broce Hall” was on Ash Wednesday 1977, and the building was completed eight months later. The parish also bought a new spacious rectory in 1977.
The Rev. Ben Shawhan served as associate rector at St. Stephen’s from 1979-1987.
On the first Sunday after Epiphany, January 13, 1991, Byron Crocker resigned his rector ship; in October of that same year, the Rev. Knute Jacobson was called as the fifth rector of St. Stephen’s. In the first two years of Fr. Jacobson’s four years as rector Sunday worship numbers went from the 150’s to the 180’s.
On July 9, 1995, the Rev. Gary Jones began a one-year term as “Locum Tenens”. Then on August 11, 1996, the Rev. Patrick Gahan accepted the call to St. Stephen’s. Fr. Gahan’s first Sunday saw only 128 worshippers at two services, but by August of 1998, the Sunday total had grown to 246. During Fr. Gahan’s rectorship ship the Nursery portable was added in 1998, and the Christian Education portable in 2000. The Anne Day Memorial Prayer Garden was dedicated in 2001.
In August of 2001, Fr. Gahan left to become chaplain at St. James Academy in Maryland. The Rev. Paul Wehner came to them fresh from seminary in 2001 and was ordained to the priesthood while at St. Stephen’s. Fr. Wehner left St. Stephen’s in 2002 to become rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Galveston, Texas.
The Rev. Jim Smalley came to St. Stephen’s in 2003 but resigned his rectorship in 2004 for personal reasons.
The Rev. Roland Timberlake served as Interim Rector from 2004 until early 2005.
On the first Sunday in April of 2005, the Rev. Rick Conrad arrived at St. Stephen’s to begin his rectorship. In the fall of 2007, Rev. Conrad left to form his own church.
2008 saw the arrival of the Rev. Nancy DeForest who served as Acting Rector until 2009. On January 4, 2009, the Rev. Nancy DeForest was installed as the eighth rector of St. Stephen’s.
In 2008 St. Stephen’s hired a Diocesan consultant to help plan the next phase. With the completion of a Mission Statement, Core Values, and a vision for its future, St. Stephen’s moved forward in its call “to be a welcoming, spiritual family where the love of Christ lives and grows in the power of the Holy Spirit.” In January 2011 the Cleo Johnson/Alice Roberts Christian Education Building was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. Dena Harrison.
2012 saw a reevaluation of our goals and vision for St. Stephen’s and with that a more streamlined Mission Statement and a new logo. Our new Mission Statement of “Love God, Share Jesus, and Rejoice in the Spirit” has been incorporated into our new logo. In October 2012, St. Stephen’s celebrated its 60th Anniversary. The Rev. Paul Wehner returned as guest preacher for the event, with several past rectors in attendance and there was a lovely meal and reception after the service.
When Rev. DeForest retired on June 5, 2016, the Rev. Ann Normand joined us on July 10, 2016, to guide us through the transition.
The Rev. Steven M. Balke, Jr.’s first Sunday with St. Stephen’s was June 18, 2017. During Rev. Balke’s time at St. Stephen’s, several difficult events took place. August 31, 2017, saw one of the most devastating hurricanes to ever hit southeast Texas and the United States. Hurricane Harvey left 125 billion dollars in damage in its wake. Homes and businesses were flooded with up to seven feet of water, there was no electricity, and the pumping station was underwater leaving the entire city without running water. St. Stephen’s stepped up and opened the doors to the wider community, cooking hot meals and serving as a distribution center for all manner of items necessary for restarting. In May of 2018 an explosive device was detonated at St. Stephen’s as part of a short-lived series of bombings in Beaumont. No one was harmed in the explosion and the damage was minor. Then there was COVID 19. Rev. Balke left at the end of February 2022.
The Rev. Jim Liberatore joined us in May of 2022 to help us heal and begin to rebuild.
St. Stephen’s is now in the beginning stages of searching for our next rector. We are prayerfully looking to the future and what God has in store for us.