Our Deep-Rooted History

Fourteen spirit-led Christians were led by God to start a new church in Louisville, Kentucky. The result? A diamond in the rough named St. Stephen Baptist Church.

After their amicable departure from Centennial Olivet Baptist Church, Percy Baker, Robert Carter, Arthur & Irma Douglas, Bettie Hayden, Kiah Herston, Bertha Jackson, Delbert King, M.H. Montgomery, Peter Pincham, Paris Roberts, Garfield Whitney, Cordelia Whittenhill and Rev. John L. Woolfolk found themselves in need of a pastor to lead their new church.
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For one year, they invited guest ministers to preach to the small congregation, which worshipped in the basement of Antioch Baptist Church. It only took one sermon from a young Simmons University student named B.J. Miller, Sr. to convince the church that he was worthy of serving as St. Stephen’s first pastor. And so, he did.

In fact, it was St. Stephen’s non-traditional thinking in 1952 that gave birth to one of Louisville’s first inner-city family life centers. The Ormsby Boys Club was founded shortly after St. Stephen had outgrown its third church home on Kentucky Street. As it moved to what is now known as the church chapel, St. Stephen agreed to lease its vacant space to the Boys Club for $1 a year to support youth and family development in the California Community.

Similar creative approaches helped to create a growing membership that ultimately required larger Christian-education and worship space. To accommodate the needs of the growing congregation, the church voted to build the B.J. Miller Educational Building on the back of the church towards 15th Street in 1966.

For 44 years, Rev. Miller served as St. Stephen’s spiritual and visionary leader. Under his leadership, the church grew and established a proud heritage that produced a legacy of radical ministries, highly respected gospel singers and musicians.
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Rev. Miller served as pastor of St. Stephen Baptist Church until his death in 1970, at which time, Dr. Benjamin S. Baker was extended the invitation to lead the church.

As the son of founding member Percy Baker, Rev. Baker was aware of St. Stephen’s rich and illustrious history. During his five-year tenure, he contributed to the church’s legacy by overseeing the construction of the church parsonage in the 1970’s and strengthening the spiritual maturity level of the membership. Rev. William T. Young succeeded Rev. Baker as pastor and served for two years.

In November of 1979, St. Stephen Baptist Church called as its fourth pastor a 20-year-old, Eastern Kentucky University student by the name of Rev. Kevin W. Cosby, who would take the church to an even higher echelon of greatness.

Although quite young, Rev. Cosby’s rise to leadership within the church seemed inevitable. In addition to being born and raised as a member of St. Stephen Church, he was reared by a family with a rich history of church leaders.His grandfather, Dr. B.J. Miller, Sr. was one of the first Blacks to graduate from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and was St. Stephen’s first pastor. 

His mother, Clora E. Cosby, served as the church’s minister of music until her untimely death in 1969. And for many years, Laken Cosby, Jr., his father, was a member of the deacon board. Rev. Cosby prepared for his calling at St. Stephen by working as assistant minister at First Baptist Church of Richmond, Kentucky while in college.

Like his grandfather B.J. Miller Sr., Rev. Cosby is a strong advocate for education. He earned a Master of Divinity in 1983 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and later a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary.

Recognizing the importance of Christian education, he strengthened St. Stephen’s Sunday School program in the mid-1980s, which helped drive significant membership growth.
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By 1989, the congregation had far outgrown the 300 members who welcomed him in 1979. His powerful preaching and teaching drew such large crowds that the church formed the “On the Wall Committee,” where hundreds of men stood along the walls so women and children could be seated during Sunday worship.

In a surprising move, Rev. Cosby prioritized building a Family Life Center over expanding worship space.
Completed in 1989, it featured a basketball court, indoor track, weight room, and classrooms, becoming a safe haven for local youth. As membership rapidly grew, the gym was eventually used for Sunday worship, but it only temporarily eased space needs.
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By 1993, St. Stephen took a bold step, constructing a $1.4 million, state-of-the-art worship center for its 2,000+ members, later expanding it in 1998 with offices and a choir rehearsal hall. The church also honored Black Louisville’s history by purchasing the former Simmons University campus in 1997, a site rich in legacy.
As the church grew, so did Rev. Cosby’s influence—earning recognition as one of Louisville’s most influential leaders throughout the 1990s.

Today, St. Stephen Church is the largest African American church in Kentucky, with over 15,000 members. Through powerful preaching, dynamic worship, and more than 100 ministries, it continues to be a force for transformational change in the community.
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The church’s annual Jubilee Festival, celebrating emancipation, has grown from a small 1989 carnival into one of the region’s largest three-day cultural events. In 2001, St. Stephen expanded to Southern Indiana, holding services at Clarksville High School before constructing a $5 million worship center, where members began worshipping in 2004.

St. Stephen sought to further meet the needs of the community and expanded the Family Life Center by constructing a $4.2 million three-story building which included: a double basketball court, dance studio, racquetball court, fitness center, café and classroom space.  The ribbon-cutting was held In October 2001, which adds to the church’s 76+-year legacy of Kingdom Building.

In June of 2005, Hotel California was erected to serve as transitional housing for men in recovery, and community resource building.

In December of 2012, St. Stephen embarked upon a bold endeavor to reach the nation and world with the launch of the “On-Line Campus” (that is reaching thousands across the world).

On October 13,  2013, under the visionary leadership of Pastor Cosby and with the faithful assistance of Stu Melvin and Curtis Brunson, St. Stephen started a new church in Hardin County and had 70 new members to unite with the church on the first Sunday.

On October 20, 2013, St. Stephen hit another milestone in successfully paying of the debt owed on the Louisville Campus. This milestone was highlighted with a ceremonial burning of its mortgage at each of its services.

Subsequently, on June 14, 2015, St. Stephen of Southern Indiana added to the church’s history of debt liquidation with a ceremonial burning of its mortgage.

In March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic may have stopped the world in one regard, however, it was the catalyst that spawned SSCLiveTV, St. Stephen’s online TV network. Under Pastor Cosby’s visionary leadership, St. Stephen Church created a daily devotional called Powerful Points to Ponder with Dr. Cosby, the LENS (Leading Ebony News Source) and SSCLiveTV, with original online programming for the nation and beyond as experienced through the Black lens–programs such as:  Health for Your Mind, Body & Spirit with Dr. Giavonne Rondo; The Principal’s Office with Michelle Pennix; Your Money Matters with George Demaree; Let’s WRAP with Derrick Carr; and Black Music Footprints: The Jazz Experience with Mondre Moffett, to name a few.

With the expansion of our online worship services and programming, St. Stephen e-campus grew to include members who live in other states such as Connecticut, Georgia, Ohio, and Florida.  To God be the glory for the great things He has done!