History

Founded in 1750, First and St. Stephen's United Church of Christ is the second oldest Protestant church in Baltimore. Originally First German Reformed Church, we have evolved through the years and relocated several times.

First Reformed Church started six other congregations, including St. Stephen's Reformed Church, which later re-merged with the mother church and, in 1928, moved to the church's present location in the Rodgers Forge/Stoneleigh area as First and St. Stephens' Reformed Church. In the 1930s, we became First and St. Stephens' Evangelical and Reformed Church.

In 1957, the Evangelical and Reformed Church and  the Congregational Christian Churches came together to form the United Church of Christ (UCC), we became First and St. Stephen's United Church of Christ.

The UCC motto, "That they may all be one," is Jesus' prayer for the unity of the church. The UCC affirms the ideal that Christians do not always have to agree in order to live together in communion. The denomination's membership is one of the most diverse among US churches.

First and St. Stephen's United Church of Christ is a community of faith that seeks to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed.