St. Stephen & the Incarnation

St. Stephen and the Incarnation was founded in 1925 when the Incarnation parish, begun in 1867 at 12th and N Streets NW, merged with St. Stephen’s parish, located at 14th and Irving Streets NW and begun in 1892. For it’s first 30 years, St. Stephen and the Incarnation was a typical, well-attended, white middle class church: choir, drama society, dances, bridge luncheons, study groups, neighborhood involvement. As the neighborhood changed, so did St. Stephen’s. This was the first integrated Episcopal church in Washington. In the mid-1950s many African-American families joined what had been an all-white congregation; in 1957, 24 African-American children were baptized here.In 1968 St. Stephen's began its hot meal program, Loaves and Fishes. Ever since, it has served hot lunches on weekends to people in need of food, today serving an average of 300 meals every Saturday and Sunday plus Monday federal holidays, days when other soup kitchens are closed.