After many months of prayer, conversation and discernment, the vestry of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Jamaica voted in March to merge with neighboring St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Hollis, beginning a new chapter in the life and ministry of both parishes.
The merger comes as St. Stephen’s faces significant costs associated with maintaining its aging buildings. Rather than direct substantial funds toward the long-term repair and upkeep of the property, the vestry, following extensive conversation with members of the parish, chose to join with St. Gabriel’s and invest its resources in the continuing life and ministry of the merged parish.
“A parish is not its buildings. A parish is its people—the community gathered in worship, formed in faith and sent out in service,” said the Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, Bishop of Long Island. “The decision to leave a church home that has held generations of memories is never an easy one. But the people of St. Stephen’s have made a faithful and courageous decision to bring their history, their gifts and their resources into a new chapter of ministry with St. Gabriel’s, rather than allowing the growing demands of an aging property to determine their future.”
St. Stephen’s has served the Jamaica community for more than a century. Established in 1902, the parish has a particularly important place in the history of Black Episcopalians in Queens. Generations of parishioners have worshiped, been baptized and confirmed, married, mourned loved ones and served their community from the church’s Jamaica campus.
“This is not a conversation that began with me,” said the Rev. Canon Frederick Walker, priest-in-charge of St. Stephen’s. “The people of St. Stephen’s have been talking for decades about what the future of this parish should look like. In recent years, the challenges of maintaining the property and sustaining the parish financially have become increasingly difficult, and the vestry ultimately decided that joining with St. Gabriel’s offered a more hopeful way forward.”
“What excites me is what becomes possible when we no longer have to devote so much energy and so many resources to maintaining aging buildings,” Walker said. “St. Stephen’s and St. Gabriel’s each have gifted, committed people, and together I believe they can build a vibrant ministry, strengthen their relationships in the community and flourish as one parish for years to come. The Church has never been called to remain in one place simply for the sake of staying there. We are called to go where God is leading us and to carry the Gospel with us.”
St. Stephen’s will hold its final Sunday service in Jamaica on September 6. Members of the congregation will then join St. Gabriel’s for worship and ministry in Hollis, with the two parishes celebrating their first Sunday together on September 13.
The Jamaica property is expected to be sold, with proceeds becoming part of the resources of the merged parish. Sacred and historically significant items from St. Stephen’s, including stained-glass windows and other church furnishings, are being preserved as the congregations come together.
The parish is also taking intentional steps to preserve and honor St. Stephen’s distinctive history. A portion of the proceeds from the eventual property sale will be designated to establish a scholarship honoring the founders of St. Stephen’s, whose story includes formerly enslaved people who helped establish and build the congregation. The new scholarship will be awarded at the annual Juneteenth Celebration as part of the Barbara C. Harris Scholars Program for Truth and Reparations.
“This is truly a merger, not simply the closing of one congregation,” said Bishop Provenzano. “The people of St. Stephen’s carry with them more than a century of faith, relationships and witness in Jamaica. As they say farewell to a place that generations have called home, we give thanks for all that has been built there and look with hope toward what St. Stephen’s and St. Gabriel’s will build together.”