9 Pentecost

 July 26, 2026

 Casselton Heritage Center

(formerly the ORIGINAL St. Stephen’s)

Casselton, ND

 

+ Let’s face it, there’s something deeply holy about returning to where a story began.

This morning we gather in the building that first housed St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.

 

It’s the first time in almost 80 years that Episcopalians have gathered in this place to worship.

 

Now, for a moment, I want you just to sit and be quiet for one moment.

 

Just sit here in this place and feel it.

 

Drink it all in.

 

The stained glass.

 

The pews.

 

The altar.

 

These walls.

 

This space has known prayer.

 

Hymns resounded in these walls.

 

People were washed in the waters of baptism.

 

Tears were cried here as people were remembered and commended to God before being buried.

 

There was laughter here.

 

There was sorrow here.

 

There was joy here.

 

There was a quiet faithfulness of ordinary people who simply showed up week after week to worship God.

 

Long before any of us were here, those faithful people entrusted this parish to the grace of God.

 

Back in 1886, the foundation of this building was laid, due to contributions of none other than Geroge C Cass, who was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in New York City—and namesake of the county and the town.

 

The congregation itself wasn’t actually formed until after the building was finished a year later.

 

On August 30, 1887, 8 people met and Bishop William Walker, the first Episcopal bishop of North Dakota, who consecrated this building that day.

 

Although this building was described as the “finest Episcopal church int eh diocese,” the congregation just didn’t seem to “gell.”

 

In 1902, the Reverend Arthur Chard, on this arrival in town, was told, “Oh yes, there is an Episcopal Church here, a fine building with a dead congregation,” this despite the fact that there were 117 people in Casselton declaring their preference for the Episcopal Church.

 

When it finally closed in the early 1950s and the building was sold to the Mennonites, the ministry of St. Stephen’s lay fallow for a few years.

 

In 1956, when a mission as being established in north Fargo, they chose the name St. Stephen’s and several of the furnishings came from here and are still used in our congregation.

 

The church in Fargo also went through times of feast and famine.

 

When I came on board at St. Stephen’s, there were 55 members, with about 10 people in church on Sunday.

 

It was not that pretty of a church.

 

There had been a huge “exodus” out of he church in the early 1980s due to some bad leadership, and a very faithful band of lay people kept the church  going through those lean years.

 

We are now are a very vital and influential congregation int eh diocese, being one at the forefront of many social and spiritual endeavors.

 

Now, we can chuckle over all of this.

 

We express our frustrating over how the church’s influence waxes and wanes.

 

But, this is just the way it is.

 

The Church has always lived by seasons.

 

There are seasons of abundance and seasons of scarcity.

 

There are years when the pews are full and years when they are not.

 

Communities flourish, decline, reinvent themselves, and sometimes surprise everyone by blooming once again.

 

Certainly that has been the history of St. Stephen’s to a T.

 

And that has been very true throughout the history of God’s people.

 

I know we’re always tempted to measure the Church by numbers, buildings, or budgets.

 

But Scripture reminds us that God’s faithfulness is measured differently.

 

God’s promises are not dependent on attendance charts or demographic trends.

 

The same God who called Abraham, sustained Israel in exile, raised Jesus from the dead, and breathed life into the early Church is the same God who has carried St. Stephen’s through every chapter of its history.

 

Today is not merely a visit to an old building.

 

It is an opportunity to remember that we are part of something much larger than ourselves.

 

We inherit the faith of those who came before us, and we are entrusted with passing it on to those who will come after us.

 

The building may have changed.

 

The town may be different. changed.

 

Certainly, our congregation has changed.

 

But, let’s face it: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

 

Perhaps that is the greatest lesson of returning here.

 

The story is not over.

 

The God who has been faithful through every ebb and every flow has never abandoned his Church.

 

New life often comes where we least expect it.

 

Seeds that seem buried sometimes become gardens.

 

Congregations that seem small often become places where remarkable ministry happens.

 

So today as we gather here in this holy space, we give thanks.

 

We give thanks not because we can return to the past, but because the God who met God’s people here long ago still meets us today.

 

And we leave this place trusting that wherever St. Stephen’s gathers—in this historic sanctuary, in our building in Fargo, or anywhere God’s people assemble—we are God’s faithful people.

 

And God, in turn, is faithful to us as well.

 

The Church has never been sustained by nostalgia.

 

The Church is not a museum to the past.

 

It is here and now, wherever wee gather together ot love God and love one another.

 

The Church has always been sustained by grace.

 

And grace, thanks be to our faithful God, has never failed us yet.

 

Amen.