Welcome to Saint Stephen's

Welcome! We are an exciting and vibrant congregation committed to doing God's work.

The mission of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. St. Stephen's pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel and promotes justice, peace and love. St. Stephen's carries out this mission through the ministry of all its members. There are many parish ministries that are looking for a few more hands to make us even better, As you explore our web site, please email us with any questions you may have. It is our sincere hope that you will join us for worship and fellowship right after the service.

Come Worship With Us

The Holy Eucharist is celebrated at two services, with music and nursery care at the latter. Any baptized Christian is welcome to receive Communion.

Welcome Visitors!

Check out our Welcome Visitors! page for answers to your Frequently Asked Questions.

Contact Us

What's Happening...

Click here for the Parish Calendar

Click here for the May 2013 Beacon Newsletter

Happy Easter!

St. Joseph Italian Dinner

On Saturday, March 23, we had our second annual Italian Feast in honor of St. Joseph. Parishioners, their family and friends, and our community were invited to join us for an all-you-care-toeat dinner of pasta, sauce, meatballs, salad. We eve had zeppoles for desert. Once again Michele Mongeon coordinated the event, and once again it was a huge success! Some 96 tickets were sold, and over $490 was raised (after expenses.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Stephen’s Living Nativity

St. Stephen’s Church community presented its inaugural Living Nativity Saturday night on the church grounds. Costumed parishioners acted out the Christmas story to narration from the King James Bible, accompanied by live animals, music, and carol singing. Following the pageant, everyone was invited into the Parish Hall to warm up with hot cider, cocoa and holiday cookies. Christmas preparations can be stressful; the Living Nativity, our gift to you, will afford us all the opportunity to take a break and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

 

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church’s Holiday Giving Tree

In the photo, from left to right, the Rev. Jesse Abell, Bev Boyer and Elaine Sanborn look at the gift requests hung on the annual Christmas Giving Tree at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. 

St. Stephen’s participates in the Christmas Giving Tree program, along with other churches in Westborough, to provide Christmas gifts to youngsters in town who would otherwise go without.  In late November, the St. Stephen’s Giving Tree is set up with gift tags on it of children’s request.  Parishioners choose a tag, purchase, wrap and place the requested gift under the tree for later distribution to the child.

 

 

 

 

Bishop Scruton Visits St. Stephen's - Sunday October 28

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bishop Scruton made his final visit to St. Stephen's on Sunday October 28. After presiding over the 9:30 am service with the Reception of Candidates into the Episcopal Church, Bishop Gordon and Rebecca Scruton joined the St. Stephen's parish family at a special reception for the Robbins Family in Fay Hall.

Blessing of The Pets at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

St. Stephen’s parishioners and members of the community brought their pets to be blessed to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, October 7th, 2012.  The Blessing of the Pets is an annual event held on a Sunday near the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi, a Saint known for his love of animals.  Shown on the left in the photo are two alpacas waiting to be blessed, further right is St. Stephen’s priest, The Reverend Jesse Abell, leading the prayers and on the right side of the photo are two horses.  The members of the Church and community and their cats, dogs, birds, alpacas and horses were blessed following a short service.

 

St. Stephen’s Parishioners Enjoy a Parish Picnic

On Sunday, August 5th, the parishioners of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church enjoyed an outdoor Eucharist and parish picnic in Hopkinton State Park.  The Reverend Jesse Abell led a relaxed and informal service which included a pageant performed by the children of the church about the life of St. Stephen, the patron saint of the church.  The service was followed by a barbeque.  In the photo the parishioners are participating in the service.

 

St. Stephen’s Youth Group Mission Trip to Portland, Maine 

The Youth Group from St. Stephen’s went on a mission trip to Portland, Maine where they worked with the Root Cellar, a non-profit organization providing healthcare, social services, youth programs, community building, and wider ministry. The Root Cellar serves the impoverished East side of Portland, where many refugees have settled over the past 15 to 20 years. Portland is one of fifteen refugee resettlement cities in the nation. 


The Youth Group’s mission trip began on Sunday, July 8th and continued for six days. Four teens served, working under the guidance of a ministry coordinator on many projects: neighborhood clean-up, yard work, seed planting, preparing and serving meals, distributing food and clothing, and reaching out to residents with a BBQ and children's games in the park.


The main purpose of the Root Cellar is to be a support vehicle for churches engaging in ministry to under-served, at-risk communities. With the focus on face-to-face work with inner-city youth and their families, it is hoped that they will overcome the material and spiritual obstacles they face by cultivating peace, establishing respect, and preventing violence. Working toward these goals, the Youth Group developed relationships with the children and adults in the community. For more information, please go to www.therootcellar.org. 

St Stephen’s Episcopal Church Parishioners Host “Our Father’s Table“

The parishioners of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church continue to host the community supper at “Our Father’s Table”, an interfaith feeding program in Marlborough on the fifth Monday of the month during the year.   The program serves a dinner to those who are hungry on the streets of Marlborough.   St. Stephen’s parishioners bring and serve meals such as ham, baked beans, potato salad, brownies, ice cream and milk.  Once the work is done, parishioners socialize with the people who come to eat.  St. Stephen’s hosts the dinner approximately four times a year as part of its program to help those in need.   For more information please check out our Mission and Outreach page.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church Adopted Troops in Afghanistan

St. Stephen’s Peace and Justice Committee has adopted a new group of soldiers who are asking for care packages and support from Americans back home to know they are not forgotten.  The group consists of fifteen men and fifteen women who are cargo haulers and are on the road a lot, based out of Bagram Airfield.  They will be in Afghanistan for a 6 month time period.  

The requested items are the same as past soldiers have asked for: sunscreen, baby wipes, skin creams, brushes, hair gel, nail clippers, nail files, powder such as Shower to Shower, razors, shampoo and dry shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc., although almost anything is appreciated by the soldiers.  Food items requested are instant coffee, hot chocolate, granola bars, any type of jerky, candy, gum, soups, gummy worms, packets of cookies and flavor packs for water. 

Please help St. Stephen’s in supporting our troops.  Any contributions would be greatly appreciated and can be dropped off at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 3 John St., Westborough, 9 AM until noon, Monday through Friday.  For additional information please call the church office at 508-366-4134.

St. Stephen’s Welcomes Interfaith Hospitality Network Families to Westborough

Interfaith Hospitality Network finds short term housing for singles and families that are homeless due to life's problems not related to drug or alcohol addiction.  IHN works towards obtaining permanent housing and employment for those under their care.  The people spend two weeks at different churches and synagogues in the local area where they are provided food and overnight shelter.  For one week, July 8th-14th, St. Stephen’s  provided overnight sleepers and dinners while the families stay at the Methodist Church.

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL WHO WERE WILLING TO HELP IHN:

MEALS:                                                                    OVERNIGHT:
Marsha Platt                                                                Sharyn and Fred Philcox
Allison Abell                                                               Barbara Mulligan
Yvette and Gemma Kite                                             Bill and Helen Panas
Cam Sowa                                                                   Elaine and Al Sanborn
Gretchen Pruden                                                         Basil Brigandi
Marie Cassata                                                             
Meta Mitchell
Simon Fricker
Laurie Metiva
Jesse Drake

The guests were very appreciative of your efforts! Thanks also to Linda Johnson for your generous gift towards purchasing drinks, fruit and snacks.

Community Invited to Walk the Labyrinth in the Back Lawn of St. Stephen’s

People of the community are invited to walk the Labyrinth (shown in the photo) that is in the back lawn of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 3 John St., Westborough.
A Labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness.  It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a spiritual path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to one’s center and back again into the world. Labyrinths have long been used for meditation and prayer.
It is believed that Labyrinths were used in Europe by medieval Christians to represent the longer journey to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. In the journey to the Holy Land, Christian pilgrims walked to and through Jerusalem, following the footsteps of Jesus. Thus, by walking the Labyrinth path, they symbolically experienced that journey.  Labyrinths typically have twelve circles quartered by a cross.

The Labyrinth at St. Stephen’s was made as part of an Eagle Scout project in 2008.

THE REV. DR. DOUGLAS JOHN FISHER ELECTED

The Rev. Dr. Douglas John Fisher has been elected as 9th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts.  Fisher, age 57, rector of Grace Church in Millbrook, New York was elected on the third ballot out of a field of five nominees.  His consecration will be on Saturday, December 1 at Christ Church Cathedral in Springfield. Read more at the website www.wmassbishopsearch.org.

St. Joseph’s Day Italian Dinner at St. Stephen’s Church

Parishioners, friends and guests of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church enjoyed St. Stephen’s celebration of St. Joseph’s Day, Patron Saint of Sicily on Saturday, March 24th.  A delicious Italian meal with trimmings was served. 

In the photo, the parishioners are enjoying their Italian dinner and the community spirit.

 

 

Time and Talent Opportunities

Recognizing that stewardship entails more than matters of finance, the Stewardship Committee has spent time during its monthly meetings this year reviewing these and has recast them as opportunities for parishioners to share their time and talents with the St. Stephen’s family. Read more on the Activities page.