A Welcoming Congregation on 31st Street SE
St. Stephen's Lutheran Church sits at 610 31st Street SE in Cedar Rapids, two blocks north of Mount Vernon Road. The congregation gathers as a Reconciling in Christ community within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Southeastern Iowa Synod, proclaiming that the gospel is God's gift to all people to be shared unconditionally. Members welcome every person without exception, regardless of age, race, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, financial or family status, or physical or mental abilities, and the pastor is available to preside at weddings for all couples. The congregation also names the land it meets on, gathering within the traditional homelands of the Bah-Kho-je, Meskwaki, and Sauk nations and seeking to honor them.
Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday worship lasts about an hour, and people are free to get up for a drink or to use the restroom as needed. The building is accessible and offers a mother's room and two large bathrooms suited to families and anyone using mobility equipment. Visitors are greeted at the door and handed a bulletin with the order of service, which is also projected on the screens in front of the sanctuary.
Come as you are. What you wear is not important. Children of every age are welcome; a corner of the sanctuary holds books and coloring supplies for little ones, and a nook in the entrance area offers child-friendly snacks and drinks. It is not unusual for a small child to join the pastor up front during worship.
Communion is offered every week to everyone present. Ushers invite worshipers up the center aisle, where the pastor offers gluten-free, nut-free bread. Red wine or clear juice follows in a small glass that is returned to a basket on the way back to the pew. Communion is brought to anyone who has difficulty coming forward, and skipping it is fine.
Coffee and light treats follow the service. Adult education gathers at 10:45 a.m.
Seventy-Five Years on the Same Corner
Sixteen people met on June 8, 1947, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. R. E. LeMont on 8th Street NE for prayer and devotions and decided to organize a new congregation. The first vespers service was held a week later, on June 15, 1947, and the first Sunday morning worship followed on June 22, 1947, with student pastor Kermit Roisen presiding. Rev. Lowell Sattre served as interim pastor through the 1947-1948 academic year, and the congregation adopted its first constitution on October 1, 1947.
St. Stephen's was officially accepted into the Evangelical Lutheran Church in June 1948. On November 7, 1948, Rev. Arthur Jothen, formerly of Maynard, Minnesota, was installed as the first resident pastor. Groundbreaking for a new building came on March 13, 1949; Skogman Construction Company began excavating the next day. The structure rose quickly from cinder blocks under an A-frame roof, and the building was dedicated on October 9, 1949. By April 1949 the congregation had voted to go self-supporting.
Rev. Norris L. Wogen began a 21-year pastorate in September 1951. Under his leadership the congregation ran an All-Iowa food stand from 1953 to 1961 and organized a Scandinavian smorgasbord every fall from 1955 to 1968, with timed seating in the basement and a waiting crowd upstairs. A parsonage at 3220 Iowa Ave SE was built in 1956, a new organ arrived in 1957, and members helped charter Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in northwest Cedar Rapids and Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Marion in 1960, with Seeds of Faith Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon following in 2001.
Later decades brought stained glass windows crafted by members, a co-pastorate, the congregation's first woman president (Roene Cammack, 1974), and the first solo woman pastor (Rev. Jackie Tjarks, 1991). In 2000 a capital appeal called "Realizing the Vision" funded a new sanctuary dedicated in 2001. Large screens were installed in the sanctuary and narthex in 2012, and in January 2014 the congregation voted to become a Reconciling in Christ congregation and adopted a resolution empowering pastors to preside at the marriages of any persons legally able to marry in Iowa. An addition and renovations were dedicated on January 14, 2024.
Rev. Dr. Ritva H. Williams, who had served since October 2011, was honored at a leave-taking service on June 15, 2025, as she and her husband John returned to Canada. Jayne Thompson was appointed interim pastor on September 10, 2025.
Music and Staff
Music is led by Music Director Lyn Curry and Pianist Leslie Hyland. Interim Pastor Jayne Thompson and Minister for Administration Pam Polglaze round out the staff.
Small Groups and Justice Work
A Men's Study Group meets every Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. at Mr. Beans in Marion. Betsy Bostian leads the St. Stephen's Garden. An Anti-Racism Team carries forward the congregation's commitment to antiracism and racial equity, and a recorded adult education series on racism is available on the church's YouTube channel.
St. Stephen's Shelves and Cedar Rapids Neighbors
St. Stephen's Shelves is the congregation's food and household pantry, helping neighbors in need and welcoming volunteers. The church also points members and friends toward community partners across Cedar Rapids, including Feed Iowa First, HACAP's Operation Backpack, Waypoint, the Emergency Food Assistance program through Iowa HHS, and Lutheran Services in Iowa.
Spaces to Rent
The building is open for rent. The Sanctuary seats 160 and includes a grand piano, speaker system, and AV system with two large monitors. The Narthex and Lobby hold four bistro tables for four and up to fifty-six seats around eight rectangle tables. A Fellowship Hall and Dining Area seats thirty around six round tables, and a fully equipped commercial kitchen sits alongside. Rentals run $50 per hour per area ($75 per hour for the kitchen and fellowship hall together) with an additional $50 for custodial service, due one week before the event.
The commercial kitchen is also offered to food entrepreneurs between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. most days, except Sunday morning worship and the Tuesday and Saturday food pantry hours. Hourly rates are $20 for two to five hours a week and $15 for six or more hours a week, with dry, cool, and freezer shelf storage available by the month. Renters are expected to carry ServSafe Food certification or its equivalent, a Linn County Food Service License, and Commercial General Liability Insurance.
Office hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., reached at (319) 364-2637 or sslc610@gmail.com.