St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church (Mt. Airy)

St. Michael's Lutheran Church

St. Michael's in 2010
Location 6671 Germantown Ave.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates 40°03′08″N 75°11′04″W / 40.0521°N 75.1845°W / 40.0521; -75.1845Coordinates: 40°03′08″N 75°11′04″W / 40.0521°N 75.1845°W / 40.0521; -75.1845
Area about 3 acres
Built 1897
Architectural style Gothic Revival
Part of Colonial Germantown Historic District (#66000678)

St. Michael's Evangelical Lutheran Church is a historic church building in the Mount Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, just north of the Germantown neighborhood. The congregation was founded sometime before 1728 and three church buildings have occupied the same location since that time.[1]

History

Though Germantown was dominated by Germans from its founding in 1683, the Lutheran denomination did not become well established there until after 1740. Different German religious denominations grew and changed once they came to America. The first settlers were German Quakers and the Mennonite church soon become important in the town. Dunkards, Moravians, the German Reformed Church and other groups joined the religious mix.[2]

The Lutheran and Reformed churches had the largest membership in Germantown in the last half of the eighteenth century, with the Lutherans becoming the largest by the end of the century.[3] St. Michael's and other churches were affected by the lack of ordained ministers, who often rode circuits to serve many churches. Frederick David Schaeffer is believed to be the first pastor at St. Michaels to settle his family in Germantown.[4]

The first historical record of the St. Michael's congregation is in 1728 on the death of its first pastor, Anthony Jacob Henckel, who is buried in the cemetery. Several deeds and land leases were dated between 1737 and 1751 and cover 130 by 1,000 feet (40 by 305 m) about 4 acres, from Germantown Avenue to the current Musgrave Street, bounded on the northwest by the current East Phil Ellena Street. More than half this area is still occupied by the church building or cemetery though the area from Ross St. to Musgrave St. is occupied by other buildings.[5]

The first stone church on the site may have been built in 1730. This building was expanded in 1746 and provided with a bell tower and pipe organ in the 1750s. A new church was built on the site in 1819 at the same time the old church was being torn down. The bells were damaged during the demolition, so a new bell tower was not constructed. The current building was dedicated in 1897.[1]

Beggarstown School is a small adjacent building built c. 1740, which was used to teach basic reading, writing, and arithmetic to local students. While most students were part of the congregation, some attended simply because it was the closest local school.[6] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[7]

British troops occupied the church during the Battle of Germantown. The large cemetery which surrounds the church includes graves of several veterans of the Revolutionary War.[1]

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America, was an early pastor. The church remained active for over 288 years until it closed on September 11, 2016.[8] The 1897 church currently on the site is a contributing building to the Colonial Germantown Historic District, a National Landmark district.[9]

By 2012 the congregation had only about 35 members and the sanctuary was closed over the winter to avoid the cost of heating.[10]

Cemetery

Burials include:[10]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Goldsmith, Sarah F. "St. Michael's Lutheran Church". PhilaPlace. Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Influences in Religion". The Concordia Trust. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  3. ↑ Grauman Wolf, Stephanie (1980). Urban Village Population, Community and Family Structure in Germantown Pensylvania 1683-1800. Princeton University Press. p. 361. See pages 211-236..
  4. ↑ Grauman Wolf, Stephanie (1980). Urban Village Population, Community and Family Structure in Germantown Pensylvania 1683-1800. Princeton University Press. p. 361. See page 231..
  5. ↑ "History of St. Michael's Lutheran Church in Germantown Pennsylvania". Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ Grauman Wolf, Stephanie (1980). Urban Village Population, Community and Family Structure in Germantown Pensylvania 1683-1800. Princeton University Press. p. 361. See page 33.
  7. ↑ NRHP Nomination Form for Beggarstown School, 1971, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, CRGIS, accessed December 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Historic Mt. Airy church closes after 288 years". Chestnut Hill Local. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  9. ↑ National Register of Historic Places Nomination; Moak, Jefferson M. (1987). "Colonial Germantown Historic District (boundary increase)" (PDF). CRGIS. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  10. 1 2 Shea, Jana (February 17, 2012). "One man's losing battle to save a historic Philadelphia cemetery". NewWorks. WHYY. Retrieved December 1, 2016.

Further reading

External links

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