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On December 9, 1955, Bishop Carpenter officially designated The Church of the Resurrection (as we were then called) as a mission station of the Diocese of Alabama. Land was purchased in the Russell Woods. By 1957, with a loan of $10,000 from the Diocese of Alabama, a brick and steel building was erected and the interior completed by members of the congregation. The annual report of 1957 lists 11 communicants in good standing and annual receipts of $731.83. However the next 28 years were difficult for the small parish. In 1985, upon the death of charter member John Lander Taylor, the congregation finally stopped holding services. In 1986, the Rev. William P. McLemore, who had been rector of Holy Trinity, Auburn, for 12 years, accepted a call from Bishop Stough of Alabama to move to Phenix City. The plan was for him to edit the Diocesan Newspaper, serve two other nearby congregations and seek to reopen and develop the church in Phenix City. In 1987, new property was obtained on US 280/431, six miles north of Phenix City. This 4.5 acres was purchased with the help of the Diocese. By December of 1987, the former church building was sold. After several months of worship in a real estate office and a local school, the congregation moved into its new church in November, 1988. Bishop Miller consecrated the building on Sunday, December 6, 1988. The church decided to change it's name to St. Stephen's and was formally received as a parish at the Diocesan Convention on February 5, 1988. It was in December of 1992 that Rev. McLemore resigned his position of Editor of the Diocesan Newspaper and became the full time priest of St. Stephen's. The parish showed steady growth through the 1990s. The Rev. McLemore retired as rector of St. Stephen's in the year 2001. He presently resides in LaGrange, Georgia with his wife, the Rev. Lori Lowe McLemore, who is rector of St. Marks. As is customary in the Episcopal Church, a rector's departure is followed by an interim period prior to hiring a new rector. The Rev. John Blow served as interim for the year 2001. Rev. Blow assisted the vestry in organizing during this transition period. The Rev. Ken Pepin was hired as rector in 2002 and remained until December 2006. He, his wife Mery, and son Gregory and daughter Katherine are missed. In June 2007 St. Stephen's called the Rev. Eric J. Liles as Rector. Eric brings a balance of pastoral care and vision for St. Stephen's and we are excited about our future. |