St. Stephen's Episcopal Church

Hans Hacker's painting of St. Stephen's on West Fourth Street.

One of the most beautiful churches in the city has to be St. Stephen's church. Not only is the church one of a kind  the people there are very special as well. They are a very strong group of dedicated individuals helping others. This church has some of the best outreach ministries anywhere. Everything from community dinners to handing out warm coats and clothes to the needy. Some of the nicest people met a few of us one cold Saturday in January to let us photograph the church. Our tour guide was Mr. Frank Thornberry a very informative and kind man that had a side story to every aspect of the church. Without him there would only be pictures and no interesting notes to go with them. He is truly an asset to this church.

St. Stephen's was the very first church built in East Liverpool on land set aside by Thomas Fawcett the founder of Fawcettstown (East Liverpool) in 1834. The early church always had a history of involvement with the local community that began many years before according to early newspaper accounts. The church fluctuated in members through the next 50 years or so. By 1892 a red bricked church took it's place at a cost of $10,000 dollars. In 1899 the church was paid off and a mortgage burning took place in May. On a cold night in January the next year the church was destroyed by fire. The only thing left standing was the church bell in the tower. They immediately decided to rebuild a new church and in May of the same year the first course of stone was laid for the current stone building we see today. According to Frank the base stone was quarried locally and local stone masons came together and worked the first courses. The designers of the new church were the architects Messrs Barnum and company of Cleveland Ohio. The building was completed and a celebration was held on December 26th 1900. That's less than a year to build that entire church! A newer parish hall was completed in 1923.

A view looking from the front of the church.

The stone church is built in the shape of a cross. The inside resembles an ark. It is Gothic in style and detailed with amazing wood trim and beams. All the wood is Cypress and the furniture is oak. There are many hand carved details around the main alter at the front of the church. When we were taking photos there were many people cleaning and detailing all of the wood and brass around the sanctuary. The place was spotless! It is home to some of the most stunning stained glass in town.There are nineteen memorial windows that depict the life of Christ. I could not pick a favorite they all were beautiful. The painting above showed vines growing all over the stone in the late sixties. The ivy was brought over from a church in Stoke On Trent by Frank's two uncles Mark and Lynn Barlow after World War 1. The ivy was transported inside their old boots soil and all. It was planted here and after 40 years or so it was discovered that the roots were compromising the mortar around the stone and had to be removed and the stone sandblasted. 

One of many lifesize stained glass windows.

A view of the front of the church.

All of the church pews are original and have been refinished one by one.

A look across the courtyard towards the bell tower.

This is Frank on the left with his brother serving the church long ago.

Frank patiently waiting while I climbed up in the bell tower to take pictures.

St. Stephens probably has the oldest church bell in the city and maybe the county. It rings every Sunday morning and has so for the last 135 years with the exception of the fire that destroyed the previous church. It was the only thing that survived. They were kind enough to let me climb up and take photos of it this spring. That will be another story in a few months though and it is a very interesting story at that. I really enjoyed seeing this church. It was an unexpected surprise to find so much history and beautiful architecture still alive and well in the city. It was even better to find warm caring people that were part of this church that were willing to share their church home with us. 


More stained glass and pictures from the inside:
https://picasaweb.google.com/117748738497939158793/StStephenS?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCL6ip8aP6uvcDA&feat=directlink