Saint Stephen Lutheran Church, Marlborough to Mark 50th Anniversary in October

Saint Stephen Lutheran Church, Marlborough, marks its 50th anniversary in October. Both a special worship service, with the bishop of the New England Synod attending, and a gala celebration, will mark the milestone.
    The worship service will take place at 9:30 am on Sunday, October 22, exactly 50 years after the organization service in 1967.  On the following Saturday, October 28, a gala will be held at the church from 4 to 8 pm, with festivities, prayer, celebration, remembrances, photos, music, food, and reconnecting with friends.
    Saint Stephen was established as the first Lutheran church in the Marlborough-Hudson area, as a mission congregation in 1966. The process began with an interest meeting attended by about a dozen people, but the number swelled to 100 by the time the first worship service was held in October of 1966.  On October 22, 1967, the church was officially organized with a rite of organization during a worship service, and the acceptance of 135 baptized members into the new congregation. 
    For the first decade, parishioners worshiped in the Unitarian Church on Pleasant Street, where the organization rite took place, and St. Mary’s Catholic Church. In 1969, they purchased land next to the Navin Rink, where the present church was constructed and completed in the fall of 1977. In the early 1970s, the church held some outdoor services on the property, dubbed the “chapel in the pines.” During their transition from the Unitarian Church to St. Mary’s in 1973, all summer services took place outside. October was a key month for Saint Stephen Lutheran Church. The groundbreaking for the church took place October 17, 1976.
     For more information about the church, visit www.saintstephenlutheran.com or the church’s Facebook page. Saint Stephen is a member of the New England Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (www.elca.org)  The church is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, inviting people of every gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, ability, marital status, or class. Parishioners come from Marlborough, Hudson, Berlin, Northborough, Southborough, Westborough, Shrewsbury, Stow, Sudbury, and Bolton. 
    Worship takes place on Sunday at 9:30 am, followed by coffee and fellowship. A mid-week service that combines ancient and contemporary worship takes place on Wednesdays at 6:30 pm and includes communion. 
    The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the nation’s largest Lutheran church, with approximately four million members split into 65 synods, or territories, across the United States and the Caribbean.