Christ & Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church stands at 120 West 69th Street, in the heart of Manhattan's Upper West Side, where it has served as the oldest church on the neighborhood for more than a century. The parish that worships there today is the product of four historic congregations - Saint Stephen's, the Church of the Advent, Christ Church, and Saint Cyprian's - whose combined story reaches back more than two hundred years to the earliest years of Episcopal life in New York.
A Parish Built from Four Churches
Saint Stephen's was consecrated on Saint Stephen's Day, December 26, 1805, on the corner of what is now Broome and Chrystie Streets, then the fifth Episcopal parish in the Diocese of New York. Christ Church, founded in 1793, was the second Episcopal parish established in New York. As the city moved uptown, Saint Stephen's migrated to West 46th Street in 1873 after merging with the Church of the Advent, and finally purchased a chapel on West 69th Street from the Church of the Transfiguration in 1897. Christ Church settled on West 71st Street in 1890. The two congregations, uneasy neighbors for decades, eventually merged in 1975 under the rectorship of the Reverend Joseph Zorawick, becoming Christ & Saint Stephen's Church.
With the construction of Lincoln Center in the 1960s, Saint Cyprian's, a largely African-American parish, was displaced. Though no formal merger was arranged, many from Saint Cyprian's found their next nearest congregation at Christ & Saint Stephen's. Today the church honors that heritage in St. Cyprian's Chapel, used for weekday prayer and for the Wednesday Eucharist when weather is poor.
A Liturgical Home Rooted in the Book of Common Prayer
Worship at Christ & Saint Stephen's follows the rites set forth in the Book of Common Prayer and draws its sacred music from The Hymnal 1982. Two Sunday services anchor the week: an 8:30 a.m. spoken Eucharist built on Rite II of the Prayer Book - quiet, contemplative, without music - and an 11:00 a.m. sung Eucharist with hymns, organ, choir, and Coffee Hour to follow. On Wednesdays at noon, parishioners gather for the Eucharist in the garden (weather permitting) or, in colder months, in St. Cyprian's Chapel. On Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:00 p.m., lay leaders offer about twenty minutes of Evening Prayer to close the day.
The church describes itself as a fully inclusive and affirming parish, welcoming people of all races, ethnicities, faith backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations. The congregation is described in the prayer after communion as "a diverse and affirming congregation of old and young, rich and poor, Black and white, gay and straight, individuals and families with children, all alike." Visitors are invited to "come as you are" - there are no dress codes. Communion is open to anyone who has been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; those who prefer a blessing may cross their arms at the altar rail.
Music as Worship
Few features of Christ & Saint Stephen's are more distinctive than its musical tradition. The Schoenstein & Co. organ, designed and built in San Francisco and dedicated on Trinity Sunday 2008, was the first of its kind in New York City. A fifteen-stop symphonic-style instrument, it is paired with a Yamaha S6 grand piano and choir stalls by the New Holland Church Furniture Company. The 15:00 p.m. congregation hears it most fully at the 11:00 a.m. service.
The parish's music program stretches back more than a century. Christ Church alone purchased eight organs between 1801 and 1923 from the outstanding builders of the day; Saint Stephen's acquired four before settling on 69th Street, including a Hilborne L. Roosevelt organ installed in 1876. With the arrival of Robert J. Russell as Director of Music in 1973, the men's choir was reorganized into an outstanding mixed ensemble. Russell served until 2003 and was later named Organist & Choirmaster Emeritus; Paul Jacobs, the celebrated organist and head of the organ department at the Juilliard School, followed him and now serves as Artist-in-Residence. In 1980 the parish established the Fellowship in Church Music, a graduate-level apprenticeship that drew students from the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Westminster Choir College, Yale University, and the Eastman School of Music, sending Organ Fellows on to positions at churches across the country.
After Nigel Potts, Eric Birk, and Parker Ramsay successively led the program, Dr. James Johnson became Organist & Choirmaster in the fall of 2023. The parish also hosts a Sacred Arts Ensemble drawn from members of the congregation, and in 2023 launched the Christ & Saint Stephen's Community Concerts, a sponsored series that reaches beyond classical music to include jazz and other traditions. Recent and upcoming guest artists have included organists Thomas Murray, Bruce Neswick, Isabelle Demers, and Christopher Houlihan; visiting choirs have come from Oslo, Guildford, and the University of St Andrews.
The Brown Bag Lunch Program
In 1983, parishioners decided to hand out brown-bag lunches on the sidewalk in front of the church every weekday. Forty years later, the program is still operating, five days a week, fifty-two weeks a year, with a single paid employee and a rotating crew of parish volunteers. Grab & Go lunches are distributed from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on weekdays - over 250 each week, totaling more than 20,000 a year. Each bag includes a main dish, fresh fruit, and juice, sometimes with yogurt, applesauce, or baked goods; guests choose between favorites like canned mackerel, tuna, salmon, sardines, chicken and rice, or ravioli.
The Brown Bag's guests are people living on the streets, elderly neighbors on tight fixed incomes, and people working low-wage jobs. The program asks no questions and requires no documents. During the early weeks of the COVID-19 emergency, it was the only food program still operating on the Upper West Side. Christ & Saint Stephen's was also a founding congregation of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, established in 1979 when several Upper West Side congregations of faith came together to address neighborhood hunger and homelessness.
Children, Families, and Formation
Children are full members of the worshiping community at Christ & Saint Stephen's. Each Sunday from mid-September through mid-June, children aged 3 to 12 gather for Church School at 10:45 a.m. in the Undercroft, working through stories from the Old and New Testaments and engaging in age-appropriate activities; they rejoin their parents in time for the Eucharist. Recent curricula have included studies of Jesus's miracles and large-scale drawings displayed in the Undercroft. Older parish youth are invited to serve as acolytes.
Babies and young toddlers are always welcome in the main service. There is no formal nursery or creche - children under three may also join the Undercroft with parental supervision. Family programs throughout the year include Halloween pumpkin decorating for the 69th Street Block Association festival, Christmas cookie decorating (with cookies then distributed to Brown Bag guests), the Christmas Eve family service, and an Easter Egg hunt in the garden. The Undercroft restrooms include a toddler-size toilet, baby-changing space, and a stair lift (though there is no elevator to the parish hall).
Adult Education and Fellowship
The Adult Forum meets Sundays at 9:30 a.m. in the Undercroft, with most sessions self-contained so newcomers can join any week. Recent topics have ranged from cults, heresies, and schisms to the evolution of human consciousness. The fall brings an Inquirer's Class for those curious about the Episcopal Church, plus a four-week Bible Study for Beginners. The parish also hosts a Book Club that meets on alternate Thursdays from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m., drawing members and neighbors to discuss fiction from Mary Webb to Viet Thanh Nguyen and Octavia Butler.
A Building That Keeps Giving Back
The 1878 church building, with its stencilled ceiling, Victorian Gothic lines, and stained glass, requires constant care. A Building and Grounds Committee oversees the garden, the roof, electrical and sound systems, plumbing, and HVAC. The garden, redesigned in 2017, hosts the Wednesday Eucharist, Coffee Hour, the Easter Egg hunt, and a section set aside as a sacred space for the burial of cremation remains. A Garden Guild welcomes volunteers of all experience levels.
The sanctuary, seating about 300, is also rented to outside musicians and ensembles at nonprofit rates as a community service. Equipped with a concert-quality grand piano, it has hosted recitals, rehearsals, recordings, and auditions, drawing soloists and chamber ensembles from across the New York musical world.
Clergy, Staff, and Leadership
The Rev. Canon Aaron Hudson, called as Priest-in-Charge in August 2023 and installed as the third Rector of Christ & Saint Stephen's in June 2025, leads the parish. He also began a two-year tenure on the Bishop's staff in July 2025 as Canon for Vulnerable Congregations. He is supported by the Rev. Flourish Klink (Assistant Priest), the Rev. Canon Jay H. Gordon (Honorary Priest Associate), the Rev. Jim Hagen (Priest Associate), and the Rev. Deacon Horace Whyte (Deacon Associate). Dr. James Johnson is Organist & Choirmaster, Paul Jacobs is Artist-in-Residence, Daniel Ruiz is Property Manager, Noel Crawford is Parish Administrator, and Petra Herman serves as Brown Bag Administrator. A vestry of parish members oversees areas including Brown Bag, Communications, Finance, Stewardship, Arts, Community Outreach, Adult Forum, Youth, Buildings & Grounds, Hospitality, and Altar Guild.
Getting There, Getting Involved
The church sits at 120 West 69th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, and is served by the 1, 2, 3, B, and C trains at 72nd Street. Several bus lines - the M5, M7, M10, M11, and M104 - stop within a block. Street parking is available, and paid garages are located at Amsterdam and West 69th Street and at West 70th Street between Broadway and Columbus. Parish office hours run Monday through Friday, with the office reachable by phone at (212) 787-2755 or by email.
The sanctuary is wheelchair accessible, and a hearing loop is installed for those with hearing loss; ask an usher or sexton for assistance. Pews can make seating space a challenge, but the parish hall has a stair lift that supports visitors with limited walking ability.
Sunday bulletins, weekly notices, and the lectionary readings are circulated through the church's newsletter. Annual pledging, flower dedications (a $65 donation for a Sunday of remembrance, except during Lent, Christmas, and Easter Day), and the Faith in Our Future capital campaign are all part of the parish's stewardship rhythm. Anyone wishing to support the Brown Bag Program can contribute online through the church's Realm giving page, or by cash or check at the door during concert events.
The Liturgical Year at Christ & Saint Stephen's
As Episcopalians, the parish follows the liturgical year, beginning with Advent in late November. Christmas is celebrated as a twelve-day season: typically two services on Christmas Eve (a family service in the afternoon and midnight Mass) and one at 10:30 a.m. on Christmas Day. Lent begins with an Ash Wednesday evening service and continues through Wednesday-night soup suppers and book discussions; Holy Week brings a special Maundy Thursday service, a midday Good Friday liturgy, and the Easter Vigil on the Saturday night before Easter, often with baptisms. The Season after Pentecost is celebrated in green vestments, with summer marked by LGBTQ+ Pride and Juneteenth gatherings. St. Cyprian's Day on September 16 is a particular celebration because of the parish's heritage, and Homecoming Sunday on the second Sunday after Labor Day launches the program year with a single 10:30 a.m. service.
Christ & Saint Stephen's enters its third century of ministry from a brownstone on West 69th Street, fed by a long memory, an old liturgy, a new organ, and a steady weekday rhythm of bread and fruit distributed to anyone who asks.