St Stephen's Church is a parish
of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne.
The earliest inhabitants of the land on which St Stephen’s stands were the Wurrundjeri people
of the Kulin Nation. St Stephen’s is proud to acknowledge the Wurrundjeri as the traditional custodians of the land.
Melbourne was settled in 1836,
and was a district of New South Wales until separation in 1851. In that year gold was discovered near modern-day Ballarat,
leading to an unprecedented boom of immigration and development. By the time these things were happening, the pioneers had
already built St Stephen's on the top of Richmond Hill.
Richmond was the outer-East of early Melbourne, and was the location
of much of the city’s early industrial development. Favourable geography, with a good deal of dry land and easy access
to the Yarra River, meant that the area was rapidly built up.
The early neighbourhood included many of Melbourne’s earliest pioneers.
David Mitchell, the stonemason who built many of Melbourne’s prominent buildings, lived in the parish: his daughter
was Dame Nellie Melba, the first Australia to become a global phenomenon. Other early neighbours included Peter Lalor, one
of the leaders of the 1854 Eureka Rebellion, George Fincham, Australia’s first organ builder, and Squizzy Taylor, Melbourne’s
answer to Al Capone. Richmond was the home of Channel 9, the first television station in Australia. The first television broadcasts
were of the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.
Richmond has always had a varied social profile, spanning from the very
rich to the very poor. St Stephen's has been here for all of them.
St Stephen's has always demonstrated a strong commitment to
the community throughout its history. The parish enjoys warm relationships with neighbouring St Ignatius and Richmond Uniting Church. The three churches on the hill collaborate on numerous projects.
Our
tradition of positive engagement continues with current concern for social justice issues, especially for those who are disadvantaged
and marginalised in the community. Our people are involved in many outreach activities in the local area, such as food services.
If you'd like to find out more about St Stephen's, or would like to find out how you can get involved, drop
us a line by clicking here.
Or just drop by and visit us!
During 2010 St Stephen's undertook the first stage of a renovation program. The aim of this phase was to deal
with deferred maintenance, and to modernise facilities within the church building to allow greater flexibility of layout.
This will enable the church to be used more effectively for community events such as concerts and meetings, as well as providing
greater versatility of liturgical arrangements.
This is a long-term project, with the first phase having been completed
in 2010. The church has had major repairs to plaster work, installation of a new lighting system, restoration of venting,
upgrading the kitchen facilities at the back of the church, relocating the font to its original footing, removal of the choir
stalls and relocation of the pulpit (St Stephen's can now boast the only pulpit on wheels in the Diocese!).
Further
work is planned for coming years.
Images on this page show some "before and after" pictures of work in
the church.
