Our Facilities

Our church, barely visible from the street, has large clear windows and sits in a heavily wooded area, surrounded by dogwoods. Parishioners often refer to Saint Stephen’s as “God’s tree house.”

In 1985-86, a new cruciform building was designed and built to fit gently into this wooded acreage, to express Christian hospitality, and become a home for a growing family. The new building provided adequate seating for 350 worshipers with pews in the nave, cathedral chairs in the transepts, and ample space for wheelchairs in the barrier-free building. The entire wall behind our altar is a clear window which allows a dramatic view of the woods that surround us, as do the stately windows in the nave and transepts. The lower floor of this 10,500 square foot building provides needed space for offices, meeting rooms, and Christian formation.

Saint Stephen’s is located just south of downtown Birmingham, in the Cahaba Heights area of Vestavia Hills and Mountain Brook. The church is nestled in a community of modest to expensive homes and is near The Summit, a major outdoor shopping district.

During its earliest years, Saint Stephen’s held services in a portable building placed on six wooded acres. By 1974, with 135 confirmed communicants and 168 baptized members attending services, the need for additional space arose.

In early 1996, we enlarged our facilities by adding more classroom space. In 2003, we completed substantial additions to our facility—a 10-room education building with a small theatre and kitchen, as well as improvements to our parking and grounds to accommodate our growing family.

In 2015, as further growth created the need for even more space, Saint Stephen’s completed a spacious new 20,000 square foot parish hall building, with an acoustically designed main hall of 4,500 square feet.

The parish hall is used for multiple ministries and events. The building has a 1,050 square foot state-of-the-art commercial kitchen. Below it all are meeting rooms and additional classroom space.

Just outside our church building is a memorial garden where cremains may be scattered or buried. The names of the deceased are added to a stone wall near the garden.

All of the additions made to our facilities over the years have been carefully designed to fit into the

natural landscape and stay true to the original feel of our church.