The ACK St Stephen's Cathedral church was the first Anglican church to be constructed in Nairobi. It was made of timber walls with an iron sheet roof and served an exclusively White congregation.
The church was situated along Jackson Road (current Parliament Road) where Kenya's Parliament stands today. According to historical records, its foundation stone was laid by Bishop William George Peel in December 1903. It was consecrated on St Stephen's Day in 1904.
Built many churches
The church was later expanded as the congregation grew in numbers. The foundation stone for the revamped modern church was laid by Ernest Carr, the wife of a contractor who built many churches for the Church Missionary Society, on June 23, 1923.
Alternatively, the foundation stone of The Cathedral of the Highlands (current The All Saints Cathedral) along Delamere Avenue (current Kenyatta Avenue), was laid on February 3, 1917, by Sir Henry Conway Belfield, then Governor of Kenya. It exclusively served White people.
Construction of the All Saints Cathedral was completed in 1952.
"Europeans were people who considered class important, and they classified people as such. All Saints Cathedral was established as a church for the Whites while St. Stephen's was for Africans," said Bishop Joel Waweru.
Early days
The colonial government later relocated St Stephen's church to Donholm Road (current Jogoo Road) in Nairobi's Eastlands to serve the African congregation. Africans who served the church in the early days included Simeon Kalume, who was a catechist, and Elijah Gachanja, an evangelist who later became the first African Vicar.
Two acres were hived off from Donholm Estate, a dairy farm belonging to the famous architect, James Watson Kerr, for the construction of St. Stephen's African Cathedral. Its foundation stone was laid on December 26, 1952, by Reginald Percy Crabbe who was the Bishop of the Mombasa diocese.
The church's construction was fully funded by the colonial government in compensation for the parcel of land at Parliament Buildings. Once it was complete, the colonial government demolished the church on Jackson Road using dynamite in 1953.
The ACK St Stephen's Church is situated at the junction of Jogoo Road and Likoni Road. It was built to an English Gothic architecture. The bell tower stands tall. In its heyday, it could be seen from miles away.
The church's external walls are built of smooth-dressed stone with rough-dressed stone to the upper skirting area, reinforced by stone buttresses at regular intervals.
The church was consecrated on September 27, 1953, by Bishop Reginald Percy Crabbe. Rev Canon Elijah Gachanja became the first African Vicar in 1957.
Eager congregation
The Cathedral found an eager and willing congregation of civil servants, industrial area workers and railway workers living in Shauri Moyo, Makadara, Muthurwa, and Landi Mawe.
Others were Kimathi, Bahati, Maringo, Mbotela, Eastleigh, Kaloleni and Ngara, with the nearby Church Army College providing homegrown African clergy.
The church's internal walls are vaulted in smooth-dressed stone while the high ceiling is supported by ribbed timber and finished in polished timber panels. The ceiling features dormer windows which provide plenty of natural lighting. The roof is covered with Mangalore tiles while the floor is finished in granite blocks.
Windows are glazed in steel casements embedded in pointed arch frames. Doors are made of heavy timber panels lashed with steel braces and hung in pointed arch frames.
The church's polished wooden pews provide a sitting capacity for over 1,000.
Imported organ
The church has a pipe organ which was sourced from South Africa. There is also a Bansall and Sons upright piano dating back to 1920 that has now been decommissioned. It is now part of the choir relic after the church purchased a small piano.
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However, the church has been fundraising for the purchase of a new church organ at a cost of Sh7 million.
Politicians such as Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Charles Rubia and Tom Mboya were members of the church at its inception.
The trade union movement was nurtured at the church, through Tom Mboya. To date, the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) still holds its annual prayers, dubbed Cotu Day of Prayer, at the church on Labour Day eve. All the past presidents have visited the church in recognition of its historical significance.
Outstanding choir
The church also boasts of one of the most outstanding choirs in the country, which was founded by the late Professor George Senoga-Zake in 1956 - the St Stephen's Church choir.
When President Jomo Kenyatta died on August 22, 1978, it was St Stephen's Church Choir the state turned to for funeral music guidance. The choir also came in handy during the funeral of President Daniel Moi in February 2020 and Mwai Kibaki in April 2022.
ACK St Stephen's was elevated to the status of the Cathedral on September 1, 2002, by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Most Reverend Dr. David Gitari. President Daniel Moi and several religious leaders witnessed the consecration of Rev. Canon Peter Njoka at ACK St. Stephen's Cathedral after he was elected the first Bishop of the Nairobi diocese.
"Uhuru Highway was the dividing line between All Saints Cathedral and Nairobi Diocese," Bishop Emeritus Peter Njoka said.
First provost
Canon John Ndung'u Muriithi became the first Provost of the Cathedral.
On August 20, 2017, President Uhuru Kenyatta led his family members and his Deputy, William Ruto, to mark the 39th-anniversary memorial service for his father and the country's founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, at St Stephen's Cathedral.
On January 26, 2020, the Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Justin Portal Welby, the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury, visited St Stephen's Cathedral. He was accompanied by Most Rev Dr Jackson ole Sapit, Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Kenya, and the Rt. Rev. Joel Waweru, the bishop of the Nairobi diocese.
On April 16, 2023, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Alliance leader, Raila Odinga, led other opposition leaders to a church service at ACK St Stephen's Cathedral before going to Kamukunji grounds to rally Kenyans for countrywide anti-government protests.
