St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is an historic

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...

style Episcopal Church church building located in

Newton, Iowa Newton is the county seat of, and most populous city in, Jasper County, Iowa, United States. Located east of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, Newton is in Central Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the city population was 15,760 ...

, United States. Completed in 1881, it was built by the contractor David S. Strover and master carpenter Joe Stevens. On September 22, 1977, it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. It serves a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the

Episcopal Diocese of Iowa The Episcopal Diocese of Iowa is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America which covers all of Iowa. It is in Province VI. Its offices are in Des Moines, and it has two cathedrals: the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in De ...

History

The parish was formed on December 1, 1867, by the Rev. W. T. Currie from St. Paul's Church in Durant. It was incorporated the following year. Prior to this, worship services were held occasionally in the

Jasper County Courthouse Jasper County Courthouse may refer to: * Jasper County Courthouse (Georgia), a courthouse in Monticello, Georgia * Jasper County Courthouse (Illinois), a courthouse in Newton, Illinois * Jasper County Courthouse (Indiana), a courthouse in Rensse ...

and in Union Hall. Some of the services were conducted by Iowa's first bishop, Henry Washington Lee, who encouraged the mission work in Newton. Property for the church was bought by Thomas Arthur for $825. David S. Stover designed the church and Joseph Stevens was responsible for construction, which began in 1871. The church was completed in 1874, with the exception of the bell tower. The first liturgy was celebrated in the church on April 19, 1874, by Rev. J. Sanders Reed of

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

. The building is

in design. The

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows are a combination of English, Victorian and Arts-and-Crafts. The organ was bought by Col. Ryan, Thomas Arthur, and Lena Clark for $700. It was first used on Christmas 1874. It is the oldest church in continual use for worship in Newton. with By 1878 the parish had been reduced to 30 communicants. Between 1878 and 1911 the parish was too small to support a priest. With the exception of weddings and funerals, services were not being held. There was also no resident priest during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Rev. Joseph Gregori began to revitalize the parish beginning in 1949 and it became an independent parish in 1962. The education wing was completed the following year. The tower base, which serves as the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

, was originally on the northeast corner of the main facade. It was moved to the other side in the 1960s and the second level of the tower and the

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

were added at that time. They were part of the original plan for the church, but were not built because of a lack of funds.

Architecture

The sanctuary measures , and the education wing is . The exterior is of the entire complex is covered with board-and-batten siding. Even though the education wing was added almost 90 years after the sanctuary they conform stylistically. The window openings and the entryways feature pointed arch windows. The exception is a round arch over the entry into the education wing. Other architectural elements include short

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es and small brackets beneath the narrow

eave The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

s. A small

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

extends off of the back. The altar, pews, choir stalls, and stained glass windows are from the early years of the church.

References

External links

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephens Episcopal Church, Newton, Iowa Religious organizations established in 1867 Churches completed in 1874 1867 establishments in Iowa Newton, Iowa Churches in Jasper County, Iowa Episcopal church buildings in Iowa 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Carpenter Gothic church buildings in Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Jasper County, Iowa