The Welcome Church in Philadelphia, a church without walls, is served by an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America pastor and by the Rev. Schaunel Steinnagel, a Minister of Word and Sacrament with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the associate pastor of The Welcome Church. It’s recognized as a community ministry by the Presbytery of Philadelphia and is a congregation under development in the ELCA’s Synod of Southeastern Pennsylvania.
Beginning in 2016, the Presbytery of Philadelphia began shepherding the congregations of three struggling churches — First African Presbyterian, Good Shepherd Presbyterian and Calvin Presbyterian — in a process that eventually led to the formation of a new, vibrant church: New River Presbyterian Church.
The Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace, Co-Moderator of the 225th General Assembly, is also executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. On Oct. 8, she traveled to the heart of the mid council and a congregational cornerstone of the denomination to preach about First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia turning 325.
Three churches in the Presbytery of Philadelphia were at a crossroads — each considering their future for different reasons.
Some might see a crisis, but the Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace, the presbytery’s executive presbyter, and the presbytery’s stated clerk, the Rev. Kevin Porter, saw an opportunity to help all three find new life.
The Presbytery of Philadelphia, which is celebrating its 300th anniversary this year, recently welcomed 2,000 worshipers to a special Saturday service in North Philadelphia.
Vandalism in two Jewish cemeteries in February has caused concern not only in the Jewish community, but also among interfaith partners working to confront religious-based violence. Members of the Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy in St. Louis and the Presbytery of Philadelphia have come alongside Jewish partners to offer support.
Five weeks after fire ravaged a century-old Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, those affiliated with the church have responded with resilience.
For more than a century, Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church stood tall in the city’s Overbrook neighborhood. Now only the charred outer walls of the building remain after fire raged through the church during an early Monday morning in late August.
Despite tension and polarization in church and society, Hispanic Latin Presbyterian Women (MHLP, in the Spanish acronym) came together recently under the theme “Connect . . . Grow . . . Serve” for their triennial assembly. Almost 200 Spanish-speaking Presbyterian women from congregations in the United States and Puerto Rico gathered in Fort Worth, Texas, to celebrate Encuentro VIII.
Philadelphia Presbytery has hosted International Peacemakers for two consecutive years, and the impact of these visits has been profound. In 2014 the peacemaker was James Ninrew from the Presbyterian Church of South Sudan. Last year the peacemaker was Rami Al Maqdasi from Iraq. These two countries, though continents apart, have both suffered the burdens of war.
Broad Street Ministry extends welcome in downtown Philadelphia
“YOU BELONG HERE NO MATTER WHAT,” reads the sign outside Broad Street Ministry in the heart of Philadelphia—a city where deep poverty and rapid gentrification exist side by side. The sign’s bright green lettering is one of the first things people notice when walking by the church’s arched façade.
