Calvary Church, Germantown
- History
In search of religious freedom, Quakers and Mennonites who fled Europe in the 17th century founded Germantown, which later became a summer retreat for wealthy Philadelphians. From the first, residents were tolerant of Native Americans and black people. The first protest against slavery ("Address to Germantown Monthly Meeting, 1688") in this country was held at the corner of Wister and Germantown in 1688. Several sites in Germantown were stops along the Underground Railroad. This tolerance came late to Calvary Church. Like most Episcopal churches, it was a white parish that served well-to-do neighbors who paid for pews by subscription. Still it made efforts to reach out to the community from its early days.
Calvary Episcopal Church, Germantown, began in 1858 in a cow pasture at Plank Road & Bettons Lane which led to Philadelphia. From its beginning, Calvary has occupied the space at the crossroad now called Pulaski Avenue and Manheim Street and has played and continues to play an active role in Southwest Germantown community life.
The first Calvary Church, Germantown, building was consecrated April 30th 1859 which is shown above after May, 1871 when the rectory was built. In 1891 during a remodeling program when the church building was declared unsafe, the entire structure was condemned and taken down to the foundations. Rising to the emergency, the congregation erected a new building designed by Isaac Pursell and held it's first service in the present church on November 13, 1892.
- Calvary Church Today
- In the 1920s, Calvary had a church social worker who worked with Italian immigrants in the area which was considered liberal for its time, Italians worshiped in the church albeit in separate and segregated services. As late as 1964, church history noted that "while the few Negroes who occasionally worship with us are made welcome, the prospect of real integration (which the rector believes inevitable) and the adjustments it will entail, raise fears among some valued and conscientious communicants."
Indeed, the 1960s saw Germantown undergo ethnic and economic changes. Since World War II, the neighborhood has seen a dramatic increase in the number of black residents. Changes occurred not only in the population but in the physical state of the neighborhood. Many old homes were remodeled into multi-family units or replaced by apartment buildings, making a mix of low-income housing projects to grand, stone mansions.
Calvary Church reflects the current ethnic makeup of Germantown. According to the 1990 Census for the tracts that comprise Calvary's boundaries, the population is 74 percent black. And while Calvary's congregation parallels the neighborhood in makeup, we have not attracted large numbers of people from the neighborhood to occupy the pews. Indicative of our diversity is the role women and youth play in the life of the church as well as our open acceptance and welcome of everyone regardless of gender, physical or mental challenge as well as sexual orientation.
