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The Episcopal Tradition as it is understood at St. Stephen’s

One of the most important ideas underlying the Anglican tradition, and its American branch, the Episcopal Church, is that we are a church of orthopraxis and not a church of orthodoxy. The way we worship, pray, and treat our neighbors is much more important to us than adhering to any given set of doctrinal propositions. We like talking and thinking about ideas, but we do so with a light heart, and with a desire to grow from our disagreements instead of getting upset and insisting on that we are right and everyone else is wrong.

There are many aspects of Episcopal religious practice, and at St. Stephen’s we tend to focus on two – social justice and the arts. We are a Queer-aligned congregation with many LGBTQiA+ members. We seek racial justice and repair through protesting, advocacy, and education. We undertake the work of Creation Care on a weekly basis, both through advocacy and through action. We care deeply about the Columbus community and work with BREAD, a local community organizing group, to decrease gun violence, push for restorative justice practices, advocate for safe housing, and ensure that migrants and refugees receive a warm welcome to our city. We help our neighbors who are in need of food assistance through our work with Neighborhood Services, Inc. We help our unhoused neighbors by working with the University District Organization (UDO) to provide an on-site social worker.

Our interest in art and poetry helps us sustain these efforts by feeding our spirits. We regularly use poetry in our Sunday morning worship and during Midday Prayer. We have many poets, artists, musicians, and dancers in our community, who offer their talents on a regular basis. Our small talk is often about concerts we’ve been to, poems we’ve read or written, books we’ve read, and museums we’ve visited. We feature art in our sanctuary from many local artists.

We are a campus church, located on the northern edge of the Ohio State University. Faculty, staff, and students are very active in our community, and we joyfully involve ourselves in campus life.

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Getting Involved

At Saint Stephen’s, we find community in worship, in small groups, service projects, and justice efforts, and in workshops and study groups that lead to spiritual growth. Click the links below to learn more.

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Joining the Church

If you like what you’ve read here, have attended a few services, and are considering joining the church, start by contacting our priest, The Rev. Karl Stevens. He will want to meet with you for coffee or lunch, just to get to know you and find out more about your interests.

If you would like to start receiving our weekly enews and other communications, click here..

At least once a year, we’ll hold an Inquirer’s Class, a series of one hour sessions over the course of four weeks that will teach you about the Episcopal Church and prepare you to be baptized, confirmed, or received into the church. Baptism is for those who are brand new Christians and have never been baptized before. Confirmation is for those who were baptized as infants, and are now ready to affirm their faith as adults. Reception is for those who have been both baptized and confirmed in another Christian denomination, and now want to officially join the Episcopal Church. All three rites (baptism, confirmation, and reception) make you bona fide members of the Episcopal Church, wherever it may be found.