St. Stephen's was incorporated as an Anglo-Catholic parish in Plainfield, New Jersey on January 11, 1895. In 1935 the congregation purchased an existing chapel at the corner of Woodland Avenue and Ravine Road in Plainfield, which became their first parish building. Additional land was purchased in 1967 and 1970 for the construction of a parish hall and school. In 1976 the congregation and rector of St. Stephen's left the Episcopal Church (TEC) en masse in response to that body's decisions to ordain women to the priesthood and to substantially change the historic theology underlying the classical Anglican Book of Common Prayer. These major innovations violated the historic faith and order of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ. The full extent of the heresy to which the leadership of the Episcopal Church committed itself in 1976 is now abundantly clear as the Episcopal Church voted at its 74th General Convention in 2003 to embrace the ordination of actively homosexual priests and bishops, and accepted the drafting of liturgies to bless same sex relationships. As a consequence of their commitment to the historic faith and order of the universal Church, the rector and congregation of St. Stephen's paid a high price. The former rector of St. Stephen's was inhibited by then N.J. Episcopal Bishop Albert W. Van Duzer, and the congregation of St. Stephen's was deprived of its original parish building and properties. In a landmark 1980 ruling a closely divided New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the claims of Bishop Van Duzer to the property of St. Stephen's in a controversial 4 to 3 decision, even though the parish building and land had been paid for exclusively by the congregation without any assistance from the diocese, and the title to the property was in the name of the parish. The Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey eventually sold the property of St. Stephen's and the parishioners were forced to worship wherever they could find space. For the past decade we have been blessed to worship in the beautiful stone chapel of the historic Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church. Our congregation today includes people who have been members of St. Stephen's for over half a century, as well as many who have joined more recently. We hope that you too will find a worship home at St. Stephen's, and become a part of our history as we embark on a new century of faithful witness and service to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
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