Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church (Forest, Virginia)

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Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church in Forest, Bedford County, Virginia, is a historic church founded in 1824 by Rev. Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, who later became a bishop. The land it sits on came from Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest estate and was donated to the church in 1824 by Elizabeth Moseley Radford; additional land that year created a cemetery, which is still in use.

The current building was built around 1844 in Greek Revival style. It is a one-story brick structure, 36 feet wide and 61 feet long, with a low pitched roof and a wooden cross on top. The church retains many original features, including pews, the altar rail, the Bishop’s chair, and the doors and windows. A Tiffany stained-glass window above the altar was donated by Ethel Dirom.

Saint Stephen's is the second-oldest Episcopal church in the Lynchburg area. The church weathered a windstorm in 1898 that damaged the south gable but was repaired. It faced a temporary closure in 1911 for lack of funds, but was restored and reopened in 1941, and has held services continuously since. A 2004 renovation expanded the choir area and the front preaching space. The Old Rectory nearby was listed separately in 1973. Saint Stephen's was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 (reference number 85002766). The cemetery and grounds remain active today.