A Brief History of St. Stephen's in Sweetwater...

In 1911, Bishop Temple held the first service in Sweetwater at the home of J. F. Paret, an official with the Orient Railroad and a son of Bishop William Paret of Maryland.  On June 12, 1912 the bishop returned to Sweetwater to start a tent mission which continued through late October of that year.

Alice Burnside Paret worked faithfully for the building of a small church in 1912 at 400 East Third Street.  She asked to name it St. Stephen’s after her former parish in Baltimore, where her father-in-law had served as rector.  Mrs. Paret recorded the mission history until her death in 1915.

In 1921 a new church building was completed at 502 Locust Street and a mission hall was completed in 1949.  

Between 1996 and 2007, St. Stephen’s operated a day school.