The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia	The Episcopal Church of the United States	St. Stephen's Episcopal Church

History of St. Stephen’s from 1730 - 2002

The history of the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Culpeper County begins in 1730 with the formation of St. Mark’s Parish at a meeting at Germanna. A parish vestry was organized in 1731 and a “chapel of ease” was established at the fork of the Hazel and Rappahannock Rivers. This chapel, the Little Fork Church, was to become St. Stephen’s mother church.

Almost a quarter century before the American Revolution, benches were provided in the Culpeper Courthouse on the northeast corner of Main and Davis Streets for the congregation in town. Today, St. Stephen’s actively participates in ecumenical activities but this was not always so. When the Anglican Church was established by law, Baptists were often imprisoned for preaching without licenses. In 1769 Culpeper officials imprisoned James Ireland for preaching without a commission from the ecclesiastical/civil authorities. He was placed in the Culpeper Jail on the northwest corner of East and Davis Streets. Ironically, in 1969, two centuries later, St. Stephen’s purchased a former Baptist church on the old jail site for use as a community center. The building housed various community services such as an outreach project. It was sold in 1983 but St. Stephen’s long involvement in outreach and community service continues.

When the Virginia General Assembly adopted Thomas Jefferson’s Statute of Religious Freedom, the Episcopal Church (no longer the Church of England) experienced loss of establishment status, loss of income, loss of glebes, and loss of members to newly organized churches of other denominations. In 1814 the Diocese of Virginia’s Convention could list only ten towns and five counties in which the Episcopal Church showed signs of life; Culpeper County was one.

In 1814, The Rev. John William Hawley, a deacon, became the first recorded minister at St. Stephen’s. In the early nineteenth century, congregations worshipped at Great Fork (near the fork of the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers), Little Fork and perhaps Buck Run Churches. In town the Masonic Hall and later the courthouse were used for services. Between 1820-1830 the church contributed $10 - $20 annually to the Diocese. Continuing to be supportive of Diocesan programs, our contributions have increased considerably since then. When the second Bishop of Virginia, Richard Channing Moore, visited St. Stephen’s in 1815 to confirm a class of 60, the church appeared on the Diocesan Council’s records for the first time.

The Church building was erected in 1821 on land given by General Edward Stevens, a Revolutionary War patriot, as a memorial to his young son. The cornerstone reads: “James Madison, President U.S.A. 46^th Year of American Independence.” Tradition says the cost was $2500. The pulpit was above the reading desk with the vestry room in back of it as was the custom. The church had galleries along each side and in the rear. Early in the twentieth century the side galleries were removed.

Just before the Civil War the vestibule and steeple, along with a fine-tone bell cast in Sheffield, England, were added to the church. During the trying experience of the Civil War, The Rev. John Cole ministered faithfully to the citizens and soldiers, sick and well, with the church becoming a hospital, which at times interrupted public worship. All the churches in Culpeper, with the exception of the Baptist Church and St. Stephen’s, were destroyed during the war.

In the winter of 1863, when General J. E. B. Stuart and his staff were quartered in Culpeper, the General and his aide regularly attended services at St. Stephen’s. Later the rector’s daughter, Fannie Cole, afraid the Yankees would steal the metal church bell, climbed to the belfry, draped the bell in black cloth so it could not be seen, cut the bell rope, and thus saved the bell. Since then the steeple was damaged in two storms, in 1957 and 1990, but, now repaired and strengthened, it holds the same church bell which continues to call us to worship. Our brass and walnut pulpit was dedicated as a memorial to Mr. Cole on Easter Sunday, 1912.

The Rev. George Peterkin, who later became the First Bishop of the Diocese of West Virginia, followed Mr. Cole in 1869 and served here until 1873. In his active four-year ministry, the Parish Hall was erected and consecrated, the chancel was enlarged, a larger organ was purchased, and Little Fork Church, damaged by Union troops, was repaired, and put back to use.

During the tenure of The Rev. Dr. Kensey Johns Hammond (1912-1935), the church came into possession of the Norris Estate; the stone wall around the church is a memorial to Mr. Norris. Other changes included remodeling the interior of the church and enlarging the rectory and Parish Hall. The enlarged Parish Hall was renamed Peterkin Memorial Hall honoring a former rector.

The Rev. James E. Bethea served St. Stephen’s from 1936 –1941; he is especially remembered for his work with the young people of the parish.

The Rev. James D. Beckwith (1941-1949) followed Mr. Bethea.

From 1949 until 1956, The Rt. Rev. David H. Lewis, Jr., former Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, led St. Stephen’s. The St. Mark’s Parish Memorial Church School Building, built during his rectorship, was renamed in his honor on the occasion of his retirement as Suffragan Bishop in 1987.

The Rev. J. Donald Partington was rector from 1956 to 1961. During these years, the present pipe organ was added and the church steeple replaced after a storm.

The Rev. John H. Jordan, Jr., followed Mr. Partington (1962 – 1967). The parish’s first preaching mission and youth work were highlights of his rectorship.

The Rev. John D. Chappell served here from 1968 to 1973. Ecumenical relations and community outreach were emphasized. An old Baptist Church was purchased and utilized as St. Stephen’s Community Center. The Community Center was sold in 1983; funds from the sale contributed toward the construction of an addition to the Church School Building designed to provide needed classroom and meeting space. The addition was named the Finks Annex in honor of Alta Finks, long-time treasurer and choir member, and the late James (Jim) Finks, faithful vestry member and former churchwarden.

The Rev. William H. Brake, Jr., served St. Stephen’s from 1974 to 1983. St. Stephen’s congregation led the effort to restore Little Fork Church and nurture its communicant growth. After Little Fork was restored and re-consecrated (1976), St. Stephen’s returned the church to the Diocese as a viable, independent, and debt-free church, with a Preservation Committee ministering to its material needs through an endowment. Now Little Fork is not only a National Historic Landmark but is also an active growing church.

The Rev. Harold Vance Mann III served St. Stephen’s from 1985 to 1993. The Rev. Mann emphasized community outreach projects (food closet, literacy, homeless shelter) and lay ministry and mission. Also during this time the church steeple was replaced for a second time after extensive damage from a storm.

The Rev. Alan B. Hooker served St. Stephen’s from 1995 until 2000 and for four of those years served as chaplain to the Region I Youth Committee. Rev. Hooker was also one of the clergy leaders for the youth mission trip to South Africa. During this time the church received a large bequest from a former parishioner, the late Mildred Lewis Adkins; her gift has become the most significant portion of the church’s Endowment Fund.

The Rev. Kate Chipps served St. Stephen's from June 2000 until December 2001 as interim rector. During her year and a half, we saw the start of the Contemporary Service in the parish hall on Sunday mornings at 9:00 A.M. and the beginning of a move to strengthen our church family.

The Rev. Michael Gray joined us in January of 2002, and we are growing in our relationship both with Christ and each other through his direction. Please come and join us.

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