Ship of Fools: St Stephen’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
The Mystery Worshipper
Shipmate
Ship of Fools: St Stephen’s, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Two or three (well, six) were gathered, and there was God in this historic little church
Read the full Mystery Worshipper report here
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But I’m curious—Do you know why don’t they have services on Sunday? I couldn’t find anything on the website that said.
That neighborhood is really quite seedy despite efforts at urban renewal, and 30 years ago it was even seedier! I would be surprised if they could attract a Sunday congregation.
I gathered from talking to the others at the service that the church was at one time either at the point of closing, or had actually closed. Apparently the current vicar has been working very hard to bring St. Stephen's back to life. I think he feels that he has a better chance of being successful at attracting a weekday crowd. I wouldn't call six a crowd, though.
I’m all for thinking outside the box, and for finding how to best minister in the spot where you are. And I can see how congregations for traditional Sunday services might not be sustainable. But I have to admit, doing nothing on Sunday seems odd.
Gothic and Gothic Revival cathedrals and some other major churches (e.g. Westminster Abbey) tend to be more or less cruciform, but in my experience, most chapels and parish churches are not. Most are two small and were planned too haphazardly over the years for such a design. But even some famous "great churches" are not cruciform, e.g:
King's College Chapel, Cambridge
Great St. Mary's (the University Church), Cambridge
St. Mary the Virgin (the University Church), Oxford
Eton College Chapel.
And, as Nick Tamen says, many a Gothic Revival parish church that isn’t cruciform, including such showpieces of the movement as All Saints, Margaret Street (which is on a site that would definitely not accommodate transepts).
Cheers,
PDR
If the church was built for the Methodists, that may explain its lack of Gothic-ness!
Even more interesting (well, mildly) would be any weekday-only churches in other UK towns/cities.
https://religionnews.com/2019/06/20/philadelphia-episcopalians-explore-what-happens-when-church-is-separated-from-sunday/
I wish posts in MW threads showed up in recent discussions.
Thanks for checking!
Stylistically it is Strawberry Hill Gothick, which is about right for 1823. That date would have been extremely early for Gothic Revival Architecture - so it is not surprisingly it is built in the precursor style to the Revival proper. However, even this is quite remarkable given the usual adherence, at least at this date, of Methodism to Classicism.
The article I linked to above says it was built in 1823, so not a revamp of an earlier Methody fane.
IOW, I woz wrong (it does happen...last occasion was a Saturday afternoon in April 1978).
I often find that early-ish Gothic Revival buildings are more 'fit for purpose' than those from the 1850s, 60s, and 70s because they were designed for the Anglican liturgy, not against it, as seems to be the case with many mid-Victorian structures. The BCP's strictures about audibility and visibility tend to mean that the officiant and readers need to be fairly close to the congregation.
I rather like the neat re-ordering of St Stephen's, perfectly suitable, it seems, for the small weekday congregations (though 117 for Ash Wednesday is pretty impressive).
Hmm.
Not far from Our Place are three neighbouring churches, all very much of the same churchmanship (MOTR to High), which TPTB plan eventually to form into a Team Ministry.
One of the churches - a late 19th C barn - already has nice new kitchen/WC facilities installed, and would make an ideal 'weekday church' like St Stephen's. It's on a busy main road, close to buses, shops, the Hospital, and some schools, so a fair bit of possible 'passing trade'.
There is, however, a small, elderly, but very faithful (and feisty) Sunday congregation, so some provision would need to be made for them, even though St Next-Door is only half-a-mile away.