Our History

Christ & Saint Stephen’s Church is comprised of many parishes that have come together to form the congregation we know today: Saint Stephen’s, The Church of the Advent, Christ Church, and (unofficially) Saint Cyprian’s.

Downtown origins and an early merger

Saint Stephen’s Church was consecrated on Saint Stephen’s Day, December 26, 1805. Situated on the corner of what is now Broome and Chrystie Streets, Saint Stephen’s was the fifth Episcopal parish in the Diocese of New York.

As the city’s population shifted uptown, the Seventh rector, the Reverend Joseph H. Price, convinced his congregation to sell the poorly constructed original church building in 1866. The congregation led a nomadic existence until 1873 when Saint Stephen’s merged with the Church of the Advent on West 46th Street: they moved to the Church of the Advent’s premises, but the merged church was simply called “Saint Stephen’s.”

A controversial move uptown

Over time, the 46th Street location proved unsuitable as well, and in 1897 the ninth rector, the Reverend Charles Russell Treat, led the parish in the purchase of a chapel on West 69th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side owned by the Church of the Transfiguration; this is our present site. The first service of Saint Stephen’s Church there was held on October 3, 1897.

The move of Saint Stephen’s to 69th Street resulted in frictions with its Episcopal neighbor Christ Church. This congregation, like Saint Stephen’s, had migrated northward until 1890 when it settled on West 71st Street. The second Episcopal parish established in New York, in 1793, Christ Church was older and larger in size; they were dismayed at another Episcopal church moving into the neighborhood. They complained to the diocesan Standing Committee, and when that complaint failed to produce results, they brought a civil suit against Saint Stephen’s for infringing upon parish boundaries. The suit failed and Saint Stephen’s was allowed to retain its new home and its autonomy.

Stability and continuity

In the boom years after the Second World War, Saint Stephen’s was able to retire all debt on its property and on May 7, 1953 a “public burning” of the mortgage took place—for the first time in its history the parish was free from debt in a building of its own.

When the Rev. Joseph H. Price began his 38-year rectorship at Saint Stephen’s in 1837 he began a pattern of intermittent lengthy rectorships. Among the rectors who have devoted significant portions of their lives to Saint Stephen’s Church are Abram Hart (17 years), Nathan Seagle (43 years), and Wilson Sutton (13 years). That pattern was continued with the Reverend Joseph Zorawick, who served as rector from 1968 to 1996.

Christ Church and Saint Stephen’s Church merge…

Like many city parishes, Saint Stephen’s grappled with social and political challenges over the years – declining church attendance and influence, social conflicts over the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement. At one point the “middle class” was leaving the city in droves, rents fell off from buildings Saint Stephen’s owned on Broadway, maintenance costs of the church building increased, and the construction of Lincoln Center caused the displacement of hundreds within the neighborhood. As a result, the congregations of Saint Stephen’s and Christ Church both deteriorated, averaging fewer than 40 people each at eleven o'clock services on Sunday. As a result, in 1975, the parishes merged into Christ & Saint Stephen’s Church under the leadership of Father Zorawick.

…and are joined by members of Saint Cyprian’s

With Lincoln Center’s construction, Saint Cyprian’s Church, a largely African-American parish, was destroyed and its congregation displaced. The diocese did not provide for any formal merger, but many of Saint Cyprian’s congregation joined Christ & Saint Stephen’s Church as the next nearest congregation.

In the 1960s and 1970s a number of socially oriented ministries were established, including the Brown Bag Lunch Program, which continues to this day, providing more than 20,000 bag lunches to hungry neighbors per year. During this time the church was a founding parish of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger.

Restoration and continued mission

In July of 1998, the Rev. L. Kathleen Liles was elected the Second Rector of the combined parishes of Christ & Saint Stephen’s. During her tenure a ceiling collapse revealed stencils which had been painted over. The subsequent repair of the ceiling included adding heat and air conditioning, restoration of the stencils, and new organ. Mother Liles retired in October 2022.

Beginning in Advent 2022 the Rev’d Canon K. Jeanne Person filled in as Interim until August 2023.

In August of 2023, the Rev’d Aaron Hudson was called as Priest-in-Charge of Christ & Saint Stephen’s. In June of 2025, Father Aaron was called as Third Rector of Christ & Saint Stephen’s. In July of 2025, Father Aaron also began a two-year tenure on the Bishop’s staff as Canon for Vulnerable Congregations.