OUR HISTORY:
Our community held its first gathering in Lima during the Advent season of 1995. A core group of seekers began to meet weekly throughout 1996. In December of 1996, Fr. Mark Hodges and his family moved to Lima. Fr. Mark began to serve weekly service at the Lima Y.M.C.A. In February of 1997, the community had its first baptism.
In January of 1999, His Eminence Archbishop JOB of blessed memory granted us “Mission” status and named us “Saint Stephen the First Martyr.” By June of that year, we found a larger facility, still in downtown Lima, where we worshipped. In 2004, the mission had to move out of our downtown space. The Mission was blessed with two donated parcels of land on which we built our current building. In November of 2005, we began worshiping in our little temple on Shawnee Road.
In 2017, Fr. Mark Hodges stepped down from full-time ministry at St. Stephens. Between 2017 and 2021, the Mission was covered by a rotation of priests and deacons who traveled to Lima and served Divine Liturgy or Typica on Sunday mornings. In June of 2021, Fr. Joshua Coolman moved from Indianapolis to Lima to serve as priest-in-charge at the Mission.
St. Stephen’s is a small, well-established Mission of the Orthodox Church manifesting the ancient Christian faith through worship, prayer, and service in Lima, Ohio. We are family-oriented with many young families and children. Our worship embodies the tradition of Orthodox Christianity throughout the centuries offered up with thanksgiving in the common language of Northwestern Ohio. All are welcome to come and pray with us.