History of St. Stephen's

Two years before Latonia's incorporation into the city of Covington in 1909, Lewis Burton, Bishop of Lexington appointed the Rev. Curtis Fletcher to form a mission church in Latonia in honor of St. Stephen the Martyr. A formation committee met at the home of Edward Henderson on December 12, 1907 to discuss plans to establish an Episcopal church in the area. Latonia was experiencing rapid growth at the time and the purchase of property for a church building was a top priority. By May, 1909 a triangular lot at Decoursey Pike, Timberlake and Washington Streets (now 39th and Lincoln) was purchased for $25.00. By 1910, parishioner Lyman Walker, a Covington architect, had designed the small Norman style church building which was ready for worship by May, 1911. The parish, along with the entire Latonia community struggled to develop. Hands-on volunteerism seemed to be a St. Stephen parish habit from the very beginning and continues today. Much of the later work of the inevitable improvements and renovations that any church undergoes was largely performed by parish talent. There was no parish fellowship building or priest's rectory until the building at 212 E. 39th street was purchased and renovated for parish use by the members. Because of its small congregation, St. Stephen's was required to remain a mission church, often staffed by clergy from Trinity Church of Covington, but occasionally assisted by St. Andrew's, Ft. Thomas, as well. The parish steadily grew toward self-sufficiency, and by the late 1950's was officially proclaimed a parish in its own right. Today with the Rev. Sarah Morningstar Stanton (the first female rector in the Lexington Diocese), the parish has experienced remarkable growth. The church now has two large paintings done by its own "artist in residence", Louis Cornelius. One painting is of the patron saint, St. Stephen; the other is of Christ being lifted from the grave by an angel. He is presently executing a set of Stations of the Cross for the church.

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is today still a small parish that offers an intimate, personal, caring atmosphere to its members and visitors.

- written by Karl Lietzenmayer, St. Stephen's Historian

Clergy of St. Stephen's

The Rev. Curtis Fletcher, Jr.		1908-1910 (picture)
The Rev. James Mitchell Magruder		1912-1913
The Rev. William Heilman		1914
The Rev. Joseph Edmund Thompson		1915-1916
The Rev. Peter Langendorff		1917
The Rev. Joseph Howard Gibbons		1918-1921
The Rev. Lorenzo Davenport Vaughn		1924-1925
The Rev. Frank Earl Cooley		1926-1929
The Ven. James Davis Gibson		1930
The Rev. J. Wilson Hunter		1933-1938
The Rev. William Gibson Pendleton		1939
The Rev. Allen Person		1944-1946
The Rev. Francis W. Kephart, Jr.		1953-1955
The Rev. Morris W. Derr		1956-1965
The Rev. Robert B. Horine		1969-1972
The Rev. James L. White		1973-1975
The Rev. William E. Stark		1975-1976
The Rev. Christopher D. F. Bryce		1978
The Rev. James Gearhart		1979-1982
The Rev. Robert A. Hufford		1983-1992
The Rev. Sarah M. Stanton		1993-
The Rev. Cynthia Webbstock

List of clergy obtained from Ripe to the Harvest by Frances Keller Barr, reprinted with permission of author.

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