History of St. Stephen Parish

St. Stephen’s Community began in the fall of 1970 with the beginning of a Religious Education program called CCD (Christian Catholic Doctrine). The first mass was said in Valley Center in April 1974, in the Valley Center Community Hall, with 50 families attending.

In June 1977 masses were canceled but the Faith Community of Valley Center (Valley Center Catholics) immediately went into action.

Masses resumed in Valley Center on November 11, 1978. Celebrants were Rev. Joseph Finnerty or Rev. Donald Walsh from Resurrection Church in Escondido. A pot luck was held after Mass to celebrate the gathering of our Catholic Community again.

It was decided in November 1980 that the Community Hall was too small for our Masses and approximately $12,000 had been collected and saved toward money to be used to purchase property in Valley Center. In the meantime, Mass was to be said at Grandview Church (Ridgeview Church) by Msgrs. Michael and Dennis O’Diggnan, two brothers that were retired priest. The CCD program had swelled to an enrollment of 75 children.

Shortly after our present property was purchased, St. Stephen’s was formed as a parish on February 10, 1981; Father Roger Lechner was our founding pastor. Mass was held inside the garage (converted so Mass could be held) and during the summer months, Mass was held outside in the orange grove with a shade cloth installed overhead. A year later, the basement area of the house (now the stage) was enlarged and finished with a slab and walls. Parishioners volunteered all labor for this project.

In December 1985, we held the ground breaking ceremonies for the beginning of our building program and Phase I – Social Hall/Church was underway.

July 1, 1987, Fr. Roger was transferred from Valley Center to our Mother Parish (Resurrection) in Escondido and Fr. Donald Coleman became our new Pastor.

Our final inspection and dedication ceremony took place on the same day – February 10, 1989 – with Bishop Maher presiding at Mass that evening.

In February of 1993, Fr. Donald Coleman was replaced by Fr. Eugene Fisher who in 1994 was replaced by Fr. Jay Brady. Fr. Michael Booth joined us in 1996 and in July of 1999, Fr. William Kernan was the new pastor. The debt of the hall having just been retired, the parish could now go forward in earnest with planning the second phase of building, our parish church. The first capital campaign that yielded nearly $2,000,000 from less than 300 families! The plan was expanded to include moving the rectory off site so as to make room for a much needed 4000 sq. ft. space beneath the sacred space.

The end of 2003 saw the terrible fires that catapulted St. Stephen’s into a center for feeding and clothing the victims by modifying and expanding the existing organizations of St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry and the Women’s Guild Thrift Store, both of which having become increasingly larger and more important to the community during the fruit fly quarantine just the year before. Our very first Mass was celebrated in an unfinished space on Thanksgiving Day 2005. Bishop Robert H. Brom arrived on the silver anniversary of the parish’s founding, February 10, 2006, to make St. Stephen’s the first church dedicated for the Diocese of San Diego in the third Christian millennium.