About St. Stephen · Alexandria, South Dakota
St. Stephen is a small Catholic parish of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, physically located at 350 N. Juniper Street in Bridgewater, South Dakota, but administratively listed under a P.O. Box in nearby Alexandria. Founded in 1882, it now serves as one of seven faith communities in the St. Mary Magdalene Pastorate, sharing clergy and parish life with St. Mary of Mercy (Alexandria), St. Martin of Tours (Emery), the Church of the Epiphany (Epiphany), St. Ann (Humboldt), St. Patrick (Montrose) and St. Mary Help of Christians (Salem). The parish is pastored by Father Melvin Kuhn with the help of a parochial vicar and a senior priest, and is home to an active Christian Religious Education (CRE) program for children and youth that meets jointly with St. Martin of Tours on Wednesdays.
- Established
- 1882
- Patron
- St. Stephen
- Rector
- Reverend Melvin Kuhn
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls
Why belong here
St. Stephen offers the small, family-sized warmth that larger parishes can't: an historic 1882 church with an adjoining parish hall, a Pioneer-era cemetery that still hosts the burials of founding families, and a joint St. Martin/St. Stephen Christian Religious Education program that forms the area's Catholic children every Wednesday. As part of the seven-parish St. Mary Magdalene Pastorate, parishioners have access to strong clergy support — pastor Fr. Melvin Kuhn, a parochial vicar and a senior priest — along with the sacraments, devotions like Adoration and Benediction, and active community traditions such as the parish Sausage Sale and Senior Mass celebrations.
Mass times at St. Stephen
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday — confessions begin 40 minutes before Mass for parishes with a Sunday Mass; the priest continues for about a half hour
Adoration times
- Adoration at the Carmelite Monastery (Alexandria) on First Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
- Rosary & Benediction at the Carmelite Monastery on Sunday at 3:15 pm
Parish Identity & Patron
St. Stephen Parish takes its name from St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose feast is celebrated on December 26. Founded in 1882 in the rural farming community of Bridgewater, McCook County, it has served generations of German-Russian and German-Catholic homesteading families who settled this stretch of southeastern South Dakota. The parish remains, in the words of its people, a small but faith-filled family centered on the Eucharist, the Word, and the care of one another.
- Founded 1882
- Patron: St. Stephen (first martyr)
- Feast day: December 26
- Jurisdiction: Diocese of Sioux Falls
History & Heritage
St. Stephen has its roots in the German-Catholic homesteaders who came to McCook County in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Pioneer parishioner John Biever, who arrived in 1879, was married at St. Stephen's in 1882 — the parish's founding year — and Biever family burials (including those of his parents, John and Margaret Fox Biever, who died in 1895) remain in St. Stephen's Cemetery today. Over more than 140 years the parish has remained a small rural faith community; today it is one of seven parishes in the Diocese of Sioux Falls' St. Mary Magdalene Pastorate, sharing clergy and resources with neighboring parishes while keeping its own identity, hall and traditions.
- 1882: parish founded; first recorded marriage that year
- Pioneer families buried in St. Stephen's Cemetery
- Now part of St. Mary Magdalene Pastorate (Pastorate 16)
- Last scheduled weekend Mass celebrated Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024
St. Mary Magdalene Pastorate
St. Stephen belongs to Pastorate 16, the St. Mary Magdalene Pastorate, a clustering of seven rural parishes in the Diocese of Sioux Falls. The pastorate is led by pastor Fr. Melvin Kuhn, with the assistance of a parochial vicar (Fr. William Hamak in recent pastorate bulletins) and a senior priest (Fr. Bob Krantz). Administrative assistant Emily Ruden and Faith Formation & Family Discipleship coordinator Maggan Krempges support the pastorate's day-to-day operations and youth ministry across the seven parishes.
- St. Mary of Mercy — Alexandria
- St. Stephen — Bridgewater
- St. Martin of Tours — Emery
- Church of the Epiphany — Epiphany
- St. Ann — Humboldt
- St. Patrick — Montrose
- St. Mary Help of Christians — Salem
- Pastor: Fr. Melvin Kuhn (605.425.2600, [email protected])
- Parochial Vicar: Fr. William Hamak (605.449.4374)
- Senior Priest: Fr. Bob Krantz (605.770.1652)
Clergy & Staff
St. Stephen is served by the St. Mary Magdalene Pastorate clergy team together with parish-level contacts for religious education and the bulletin. The parish directory on the Diocese of Sioux Falls website lists Fr. Melvin Kuhn as pastor of St. Stephen and Fr. Steven Jones as parochial vicar; the pastorate bulletins from late 2023 through 2025 list Fr. Melvin Kuhn as pastor and Fr. William Hamak as parochial vicar for the seven-parish cluster, with Fr. Bob Krantz assisting as senior priest.
- Pastor: Rev. Melvin Kuhn — 605.425.2600
- Parochial Vicar (pastorate bulletins): Rev. William Hamak — 605.449.4374
- Parochial Vicar (diocese listing): Rev. Steven Jones
- Senior Priest: Rev. Robert (Bob) Krantz — 605.770.1652
- Faith Formation & Family Discipleship: Maggan Krempges — 605.425.2600 / [email protected]
- Bulletin editor: Vicky Huls — [email protected] (items due Mondays 2:00 pm)
- Pastorate Administrative Assistant: Emily Ruden
Faith Formation & Religious Education
St. Stephen's youth are formed in the faith through the joint St. Martin of Tours / St. Stephen Christian Religious Education (CRE) program. Classes meet on Wednesdays for grades K-12 — 7:00 to 8:15 pm for high-school students — and include sacramental preparation for First Communion and Confirmation, a Confirmation retreat, the Lumen Christi program, and adult religious education. Children from St. Stephen and St. Martin are confirmed together at one of the pastorate's churches; the April 2025 bulletin, for instance, noted confirmations were held at St. Martin's in Emery by Archbishop Thomas Gulickson.
- St. Martin / St. Stephen CRE — Wednesdays, 7:00-8:15 pm (grades 9-12) plus earlier sessions for K-8
- Lumen Christi program
- Adult Religious Education
- Confirmation preparation and Confirmation retreat
- First Communion preparation
- Coordinator: Maggan Krempges — 605.425.2600 / [email protected]
Parish Life & Fundraisers
St. Stephen's parish hall is a center of community life in Bridgewater. The annual St. Stephen Sausage Sale (held most recently in 2021 and continuing in subsequent years) is one of the parish's signature fundraisers, and the parish also hosts a Sunday Brunch and a special Senior Mass. Christmas, Easter and Confirmation gatherings fill the photo archive on the parish website, and Rogation Day is observed in May.
- Annual St. Stephen Sausage Sale
- St. Stephen Sunday Brunch
- Senior Mass celebration
- Christmas and Easter celebrations
- Rogation Day observance
Cemetery
St. Stephen's Cemetery, adjoining the parish grounds in Bridgewater, is an enduring part of the parish's identity. It contains the graves of the parish's founding families, including John Biever (d. 1928) and his parents John and Margaret Fox Biever (both d. 1895), as well as later generations of Bridgewater's Catholic community.
- On-site parish cemetery
- Burials of pioneer families (Biever, Schittinger, Fox, Leitheiser, others)
- Active cemetery serving current parishioners
Sacraments
The pastorate bulletin directs parishioners to contact the parish priest for the sacraments of Baptism, Marriage, the Anointing/Care of the Sick, and the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). The first Thursday of each month the priest visits the Bridgewater Nursing Home for a 10:00 am Mass and Communion for residents who cannot easily come to the church. Confirmation and First Communion for youth are coordinated through the St. Martin / St. Stephen CRE program.
- Baptism — contact parish priest
- Marriage — contact parish priest
- Anointing / Care of the Sick — contact parish priest
- RCIA — contact parish priest
- Confirmation & First Communion — through CRE program
- Nursing Home Ministry — first Thursday, 10:00 am at Bridgewater Nursing Home
Contact & Visit
Parishioners and visitors can reach St. Stephen at the parish phone line (605-239-4578) or by email at [email protected]. The parish mailing address is P.O. Box 308, Salem, SD 57058, reflecting the pastorate's central mailing in Salem. The shared pastorate website at www.mmscatholic.org carries current photos, photo sheets and ministry information for St. Stephen along with the six other parishes in the cluster.
- Phone: 605-239-4578
- Email: [email protected]
- Mailing: P.O. Box 308, Salem, SD 57058
- Website: www.mmscatholic.org
- Diocese directory: http://www.sfcatholic.org/parishes/st-stephen-bridgewater/