St. Stephen’s the Martyr traces its roots to two previous Anglican Parishes: the larger St. Paul’s and smaller St. Andrew’s. St. Paul’s was founded in 1905 as a plant from All Saints’ Church (the present Cathedral) to serve the growing area that was then northeast Edmonton, but is now the inner-city neighbourhood of McCauley. A new Church for St. Paul’s was built in 1914, however, the cost of building the new Church and Rectory provided to be a large strain in part due to the economic conditions during and after the First World War. St. Andrew’s Parish had been in a similar situation, and it was decided to amalgamated the two Parishes together in 1922. The Church and Hall of St. Andrew’s were sold and with the new parish using St. Paul’s Church that was built in 1914. Thus St. Stephen the Martyr’s was born.
St. Stephen’s was a “regular” Anglican Parish until 1929 with the arrival of Father E. R. Lockyner who introduced the Anglo-Catholic Tradition to St. Stephen’s during his 4 year tenure as Rector. When Fr. Lockyner was quite ill in 1933 the Vestry and Parish decided to continue on with the quite style of worship that he had introduced.
In 2009 serious damage was discovered to the foundation of our 1914 Church . Without the financial means to repair it the Parish was forced to sell its building and re-locate to share space with nearby St. Faith’s Parish.
Since relocation we have been responsible for working with our fellow Anglicans in St. Faith’s with ministering the to people of the community of Alberta Avenue, particularly in the PrayerWorks program. We are also, as of 2011, the only remaining Parish of the Anglican Church of Canada in the Province of Alberta that is part of the Anglo-Catholic Tradition.