A Brief History of St Stephen's Church, Tala

St Stephen’s, situated in Stephanie village, Tala, was the first church “planted” by the Anglican Church of Paphos with 12 founder parishioners. Its first service was a Carol Service on Christmas Eve 2000, led by the Reverend Marvin Bamforth and the building was dedicated on 28 January 2001.
St Stephen’s was intended as an outreach to the many English-speaking people who live in the area, which is why the premises chosen were not in the style of a traditional church. The property had been a taverna so was versatile and could accommodate large numbers of people.
The church has a small kitchen and lounge area, for refreshments after services, plus a vestry and toilets. A member of the congregation provided the funds for the latter, and other items in the church were also donated by parishioners. A number of women in the congregation made the altar backdrop, the curtains for the archway and the chair-backs to hold hymn books and bibles. A small team of church members carry out much of the maintenance required.
The members of St Stephen’s love singing and enjoy a wide variety, from traditional hymns to modern hymns and choruses. As well as singing, St Stephen’s is known for its fellowship. One of the ways the community encourages this is through a regular Fellowship Lunch held at different venues to which visitors and members of all three churches are invited.
Attendance numbers at services varies according to the time of the year, shrinking during the summer months when many members go on holiday, or return to the UK or elsewhere. This swells from autumn and peaks for special festivals like Christmas and Easter. Many members are “swallows”; people who come to Cyprus for three months at a time.
Social outreach is an important feature of this congregation and includes working with the municipality to provide food and funds to assist local people in need. At Christmas, the congregation provides presents which are given to the local Social Services for distribution and at Easter needy local families, including refugee families, receive small gifts and donations. Additionally, loose change or “shrapnel” (two, five cent and 1 euro coins) is collected for worthy causes and distributed according to local need.
Whatever your church background or lack of it, whether visiting or on holiday, living here permanently or occasionally, if you would like to attend a service, you will always be very welcome at St Stephen’s.
The diocesan link church for St Stephen’s is St Martin’s Church in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates.