Author: Father Stephen

Father Stephen started serving as the rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church on January 10, 2020. Prior to that position he served as priest-in-charge in Miles City and Forsyth, Montana. He is originally from West Virginia and has experience in youth ministry, mission work and more.

Christmas 2023 Letter

Dear friends in Christ,

Another year in the life of the Church has begun and now we are well into the season of Advent.  This is a season for reflection and repentance as we prepare to celebrate and give thanks for the coming of the Son of God at His birth and when he will come again. 

During these holy days we are also called on to share with others.  As we shift from Advent to Christmas, we are called on to remember a family of refugees who couldn’t find any room in the inn many years ago.  We are to care for those who exist on the margins of society, now and always. 

This is a time of transition for our community, but remember: The Church is not a building, it is a people.  We are called on to be witnesses of God’s love and vessels of it.  As I said at the conclusion of a recent sermon, “May the peace of Christ guide us through the wilderness, and may we, as a community, be a beacon of hope to a world in need.”  We live in a world desperately in need of that hope. 

As we prepare to honor the coming of our Lord, it is my privilege to invite you to join us for worship all of which will be offered in-person, streamed live on Facebook and later uploaded to YouTube:

Sunday, December 24

            10 am               Holy Eucharist Rite I observing the Fourth Sunday of Advent

            5 pm                Holy Eucharist Rite II celebrating the Nativity of our Lord

Monday, December 25

            10 am               Holy Eucharist Rite II celebrating the Nativity of our Lord

Lovingly yours in Christ,

Father Stephen

Necrology for Saint Stephen’s

In honor of All Souls’ Day, we organized the necrology of the congregation from 1958 to the present. This is a listing of all those who were buried at or through our church.

O God, whose days are without end, and whose mercies cannot be numbered: Make us, we pray, deeply aware of the shortness and uncertainty of human life; and let your Holy Spirit lead us in holiness and righteousness all our days; that, when we shall have served you in our generation, we may be gathered to our ancestors, having the testimony of a good conscience, in the communion of the Catholic Church, in the confidence of a certain faith, in the comfort of a religious and holy hope, in favor with you, our God, and in perfect charity with the world. All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, the King of saints, we praise and glorify your holy Name for all your servants who have finished their course in your faith and fear: for the blessed Virgin Mary; for the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs; and for all your other righteous servants, known to us and unknown; and we pray that, encouraged by their examples, aided by their prayers, and strengthened by their fellowship, we also may be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Father of all, we pray to you for those we love, but see no longer: Grant them your peace; let light perpetual shine upon them; and, in your loving wisdom and almighty power, work in them the good purpose of your perfect will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Available to download

1958

Peter Bruce Roberts

1959

Martha (Patty) Buchanon

Donald Clyde Morrison

1960

William Richards, M.D.

Elmer S. Larson

Michael Utter

John Stanley Butusch

Robert Hugh Grainger

1961

Alma M Palmer

Alvin Dale Hucke

James Stuart

1962

William Sanders

Dan Davies Sr.

James Stripp

1963

Mabel Frost

1964

Lincoln Jud Rims

Frank S Houle

Opal Helen Wilds

Earle Edwin Tiffany

Mary Isabella Daly

1965

Martha Jane McGonegal

Mary Jane McGinnis

Edwin John Scoins

Archibald Cecil Brown

1966

Robert C. Wright

Theodicia E Swift

Kenneth J. Erickson

Elenora Feloer

Theodroe Matt. LeCompete

1967

Eva C. Miller

1968

Luci Julia Morin

Barbara M Bowles

1969

Dora L Elliott

John Vernon Neville, MD

Ira Chester Frost

Warren D Skelton


1970

Barry Ronald Clark

Harold M Roe

Jack P Partington

Thelma Janet Hosea

Clyde Raymond Mitchell

Harry Partington

1971

Kathryn M Thain

Vicki Rae Christensen

Chales Robert Nicholson

Gertrude B. Davies

Virgil Rex Jackson

1972

Lucille A. Hays

Harold T. Hartman

1973

Edith Ann Bruggeman

1974

Judith Benson

Heywood Daly

Darrell Rohrdanz

1975

Stephen Michael Roe

Louise C. Ruffier

1976

Roy King

William L. Wood

Thomas Harry Scoins

Lulu Cobb Jones

Carl M Grainger

1977

Ruth Elizabeth Warburton

EM “Bub” Barker

Doris Elena Freeland

Arnold H Miller

1978

Edwin H. Sackett

Ray William Brush Sr

James Robert Lehaherr

1979

Lyall Jonston

Barbara C. Torrell

Evelyn K Bjorgum

1981

Rose S. Harman

1984

Howard L. Helmer

1985

Mabel O. Miller

1986

Raul Turner

John Brand

Bessie Blanch Quinn

1987

Richard Cosslett

1988

Naomi (Nan) Hodgin

1990

Vernon Edwin Fredlund

Ruth Elizabeth Mattison

John Tru Robinson

Margaret H. Smith

1991

Frank Thomas

Nega L Swain

Frank Allen Salsbury

Rena Mac Fulton

Florence R. Sackett

John T. Hanson

James McGregor Quinn

1992

Katie Quilico

Francis Albrecht

1993

Joan H Preston

Joseph A Gates

Grace Prior

Jesse Baty

Lorin “Fritz” Bruggeman

Dorothy Kemp

William E Routen

Loren E Rohrdanz

Harry E Rux

Margaret “Pat” Wirsdell Wickhorst

Edward Gerald Caron

Robert E Mattison

Sheridan R. Graff

1994

Ruth Emma Harman

Leda Frances Morgan

Mary Jane Roberts

Bert Stripp

Grace Marie Rahm

Max G. Punches

Betty L. Stacey

Helen M. Puckett

1995

Edith M Shipley

James R Stiles, Jr

Barbara Punches

Vera Gilbert Bruggeman

Julia F Sadler

Caryl Jean Graham

Olga E Campbell

Ruth Elma McKee

Don L. Ferguson

Frances Eleanor Arey

1996

Eldora W. Stiles

Margret E. “Bess” Myers

Jane Elizabeth Baty

John A. Petentler

Margaret Schmitt Hobein

Louis C. Pitchford

Raymond Todd

Charles B. “Buster” Metz

Walter Woody, Jr.

Elizabeth “Bettie” Thain Hagan

1997

Mildred Lambert

Amos Jarrett

Cerna Cahn

James E. Stinson

Malcom “Mac” Harrison Clark

David J. McKee

Velma Swift Ramirez

Harriette I. Skeie

Ralph A Brownell

1998

Yates Hagan

Ruth H. Nyback

Naomi Davidson

The Rev. Edwin Clayton Speare

William L “Bill” Morgan

Michael Bede

Jane Weeren Diemer

Florian Peter Bianchi

Hiram M. Ramirez

Russell C. Morin

William Samuel Mather

Charlotte Maloney Thomte

1999

Clifton Maclead Conoway

Christine Melia (Pederson) Hancock

John Charles Thompson

Kurt Bane Burres

Dorothy Lucille Foster

Harrison Dean Michael Fiske

Kathryn H. Wright

Jack Bagley Anderson

Grant Alexander Tyler

2000

Robert A. Roe

Elizabeth A. Hoem

Carmen L. Evans

Cyrus S. Lee

2001

Hildegarde J. Rohrdanz

Roger Evans

Louis Ladas

Partricia K. Woody

Robert E. Fears

2002

Bill M. Chiesa

Robert Morris Rodney

William John Hancock

Thomas Byrne Hancock

John Carroll

Misty Lee Knight

Frances Holmes Warren

Steve Thomas Butorovich

2003

Dophne Ann Linscott

Marie Louise Sopp

Arthur “Doc” Foeste

Ann Elizzabeth Larson

Richard William Roach

Helen Cecilia Barney

2004

Edward L Prior

John G. Billings

Barbara L. King

Margaret Jarrett

Melvin F. Hansen

June Elizabeth Butler Conaway

Ted Phillips

2005

Walter “Bud” Harry Yeider

John Carrol Brown

Bodil Bitten Thuesen

John Anderson Willard

Helen Emma Willard

Dorothy Mather

2006

Beryl Johnson

Ernest E. Bahm

Audrey B. Foeste

Duke Swindlehurst Wood

Mary Alice Stripp

2007

Helen Marjorie Bianchi

Sharon Amsbaugh

Betty Lien

James McCrea Haughhey

2008

Marion Grainger

Melvin F. “Pat” Hansen, Jr.

Mildred Morin Tooley

Pauline Julia Golob Bede

Irene Ione Zook Hedge

James Joseph Gray

Donna Jean Adams

Harry Ellsworth Swain

2009

Marjorie Quinn Ward

Traci Ellen Baum

Cecily Graf

Dorothy (Butrick) Middleton

George Harold “Hal” Sheets

Joan Ropp

Ruby Faye Kelling

2010

Frances Marie Miner

Mary Elnora “Nora” St. John

J. Knox Pannill, Jr.

Bernice Zeiler

Kathryn Bertin K. Chapman

Lilburn F. “Wally” Wallace

Robert James Stacy

Troy Athal Martin

John E. Turley, Jr.

Elinor Cooper Prince

Jens Jorgen Dohn Thuesen

Anne C. Hoffman

2011

Helen P. Clark

Francis Robbins

Robert Leonard Lien

Ladd Strife Shorey

A.R. “Ray” Collins, Jr.

Donald Eugene Grainger

Harriette Virginia Brownell

Jennie “Tody” Garnett

2012

Ruth Leticia Remington Billings

Janice Salsbury

Primrose Johnston Craven

Anita Ione Bahm

Bruce William Morrison

2014

Tim Preston

William Leigh MacBoyle

Daphne Lois Remington Hansen

Merlyn B. Johnson

Judith Dolores Rudolph Clark

Angier St. George Biddle Duke

William Frank Thompson

2015

Vada Estelle (Mercer) Pitchford

Gail Louise Frothingham Sheets

Thomas Maynard Patinos

2016

James D. Larson

Jean M. Wallis

Helen Gay Vannoy Davidson

William M. Fry

Margean Lyon Robinson

Letitia S. Ruffier

2017

Allagean Schindele

John Newman

Jane B. Pannil

Patricia T. McAllister

2018

William C. McAllister

Partrick Thain Hagan

Anthony R. Moore

2019

Marie Cecelia (Jansen) Johnson

Emilie L. Ruffien

Mary Elizabeth (Perkins) Larson

2020

Jack Rehberg

Patricia Ann (Smith) Bruggeman

James “Jim” Schoenbaum

2022

Lois Koch Lee

Robert Brown Gummer

2023

Dorothy Beatrice Hucke

Donna Jean Kemp

Albina “Bina” C. Collins