The Church of the Nativity in Newport was built in 1889 by prominent Newport contractor John W. Hetrick in mock Tudor style, and its adjacent 1893 building served as the rectory until it was converted in 2004 to office and meeting space. Newport’s first Episcopal services were held in the home of Mrs. Elizabeth T. Moore Bechtel on March 28, 1875, assisted by Mrs. Sarah Kerr Hiestand, reported to be the first Episcopalian in Newport, before worship later moved to the supervisor’s office of the Pennsylvania Railroad at 3rd and Walnut Streets. A lot on South 2nd Street was purchased in 1887, and the church was dedicated on November 14, 1889. Among its priests, the Rev. William Dorwart, who was born in 1864 and died in 1927, took charge in August 1891 and served until his death, becoming a beloved figure known as “the Rector of Newport” for civic activities during his 36 years in the community. From 1974 to 2004, the Rev. Canon William T. Warne II helped establish the low-income residences of Episcopal Commons in Newport and Episcopal Gardens in Thompsontown in response to economic challenges, and he also served as a catalyst for many human service and civic programs. Historic St. Stephen in Thompsontown, founded in 1827, merged with Nativity in 1984. Reflecting changing roles for women in the Episcopal Church, the Rev. Daphne S. K. Messersmith, Nativity’s first female rector, served from 2005 to 2013.