The people of St. Stephen's have been serving Christ for over 100 years in the heart of Harrisonburg, Virginia. It all began with the decision of the Virginia Classis of the Reformed Church in the United States to send J. Silor Garrison to investigate the possibility of establishing a mission congregation in either Harrisonburg or Staunton. After investigating both cities, he recommended that the work be initiated in Harrisonburg to serve the Reformed Church families who had moved into our city from rural congregations in the Shenandoah Valley. In August 1894 the Classis commissioned Garrison to begin mission work according to his recommendations. The work progressed swiftly enough to organize a congregation on December 3, 1894. The church met in the Logan Store, on North Main Street, until 1897 when work was completed on the first St. Stephen's building on North High Street, a building which stands to this day.
The Reformed Church, born in the Reformation of the 16th century at the area of present-day Germany and Switzerland, traces its roots to the leadership of Ulrich Zwingli (1481-1531) in Zurich. In the early part of the 1700's German settlers brought their religion into the Shenandoah Valley from New York and Pennsylvania. Some came over the mountains from places like Germanna, Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge. By 1800 German Reformed churches had been established throughout the Valley. After the Civil War, it ws only natural that the descendants of these early settlers along with others who had been converted to the Reformed Church should take their religion into a new, growing town like Harrisonburg.
St. Stephen's was indeed blessed to have as its organizer a man such as Rev. Dr. J. Silor Garrison. He was born near Middlebrook, Virginia, south of Staunton, and was reared in St. John's Reformed Church, which had been founded in 1785. In addition to serving St. Stephen's from 1894 to 1897 and from 1908 to 1943, Dr. Garrison was also the founder and first president of Massanutten Academy, Woodstock, Virginia; was a professor of English at Catawba College (North Carolina); and was a teacher of mathematics at Harrisonburg High School (1908-1938). He was also a historian and writer. His History of the Reformed Church in America is an excellent resource for those interested in the history of religion in America.
During Dr. Garrison's long tenure, much progress was made at St. Stephen's. He organized a Ladies Aid Society in October 1895, whose members represented the Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Jewish places of worship. This organization raised large sums of money for the building of the first church. He organized the Willing Workers Society which was comprised of young girls fourteen years old and under, none of whom were from Reformed families. They also helped in earning money for the first St. Stephen's building.
St. Stephen's women formed a missionary society as part of a movement within the Reformed Church and the Virginia Class in 1913. In 1910 St. Stephen's raised $4,224.84 in one twenty-minute roll call to send to the Reforemd Church's "Forward Movement" program, the purpose of which was to raise money for home and foreign missions, Christian education, ministerial relief and publications. The Reformed Churchmen's League was formed in 1924 with 148 ministers, 96 elders, and 15 advisory members present.
Since Dr. Garrison's time, St. Stephen's has been ably served by many ministers including:
Lawrence S. Strunk (1943-47)
Paul V. Helm (1947-53)
James R. Williams (1977-1981)
James. D. Singletary (1982-1984)
Allan Fenner (1985-1986), Interim
Robert G. Stainback (1986-1993)
Donald Neel (1993-1994)
Richard Schiemann (1994-2001)
Julie Overman, Interim (2001-2002)
Don Smith, Interim (2002)
William Mulford, Intentional Interim (2003-4)
Tresa F. Quarles, Pastor (2004 - present)
Less than three years after our current building was completed, the Reformed Church in the United States united with another church of German origin, the EVANGELICAL CHURCH. And in 1957, the Evangelical and Reformed Church united with the Congregational Christian Churches to form our present United Church of Christ. We cherish our roots in these earlier times while we look forward to the adventure of serving Christ in the future.