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Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, is an Episcopal parish church in the progressive Anglo-Catholic tradition.[1] It is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and is located in the Philadelphia Main Line.

Church of the Good Shepherd
The bell tower and north entrance
Map
40°1′28″N 75°19′29″W / 40.02444°N 75.32472°W / 40.02444; -75.32472
Location1116 E Lancaster Avenue, Rosemont, Pennsylvania
CountryUnited States
DenominationEpiscopal
TraditionAnglo-Catholic[1]
ChurchmanshipHigh church
WebsiteThe Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Pennsylvania
History
Statusactive parish
Founded1869
Consecrated1910
Architecture
Architect(s)Baily & Truscott (Philadelphia) (main church); Samuel Fowler and Samuel Mountford (Trenton, New Jersey) (Baptistry, Cloister, and Lady Chapel)
Architectural typeGothic Revival
StyleEnglish Gothic
Groundbreaking1893
Completed1894
Specifications
Bells11 in bell tower, one above sanctuary
Administration
DioceseEpiscopal Diocese of Pennsylvania
ParishChurch of the Good Shepherd
Clergy
RectorKyle Babin

Good Shepherd offers a robust program of high church Anglican worship, using the Book of Common Prayer (1979). The church welcomes all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status.

The 19th-century church building has been called "a gorgeous, absolutely stunning neo-gothic space, [whose] acoustics are fantastic".[2]

Location of Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania (white x), in relation to Bryn Mawr College (right) and Villanova University (upper left)

History

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The parish was founded in 1869 as part of the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement revival in the Anglican Church,[3] and was admitted to the Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1871. Its original church building, demolished in 1901,[4] was on the north side of Lancaster Avenue, just east of the present football stadium of Villanova University.

Through a donation of $27,000 (more than $900,000 in 2024 dollars[5]) from parishioner Harry Banks French of the Smith, Kline & French company,[6] (in memory of his recently-deceased wife, Augusta Graham French[4]) the present church building was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm of Baily & Truscott.[7] Constructed in 1893 and 1894, the architecture is in the Gothic Revival style of a 14th-Century English country church. The first services were held in 1894, and the building was consecrated in 1910.[8]

Rectors

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Name Years
Henry Palethorp Hay 1869 - 1883
Arthur B. Conger 1883 - 1912
Charles Townsend Jr. 1912 - 1930
Thomas A. Sparks 1930 - 1932
William P.S. Lander 1933 - 1962
James H. Cupit, Jr. 1963 - 1971
George William Rutler 1971 - 1978
Andrew Craig Mead[a] 1978 - 1985
Jeffrey N. Steenson 1986 - 1989
David Moyer 1989 - 2002
parochus vacans[b] 2002 - 2012
Richard C. Alton 2012 - 2014
parochus vacans 2014 - 2020
Kyle Babin 2020 – present

The parish rector is the Rev. Dr. Kyle Babin. Babin holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Rice University, a Master of Music degree from Yale University with a certificate from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music, and a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary. Immediately before accepting his call as rector in August 2020, Babin was a member of the clergy of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, an Anglo-Catholic parish in Philadelphia.[9]

Art and architecture

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West Window, with St. Michael the Archangel (center), a memorial to the dead of the First World War
 
Floor plan of the church: (1) west door; (2) baptistry; (3) Good Shepherd votive shrine; (4) Lady Chapel; (5) tower bells console; (6) Marian votive shrine; (7) icons; (8) Rood Screen; (9) High altar; (10) altar rail; (11) bishop's chair; (12) organ pipes chamber; (13) organ console; (14) chancel; (15) Our Lady of Walsingham votive shrine; (16) war memorial; (17) bishop's door; (18) sacristy entrance; (19) nativity window; (20) Good Shepherd statue above the north door; (21) bell tower

Entrance and bell tower

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Above the main (north) entrance to the church is a polychrome statue depicting the boy Jesus as the Good Shepherd. The crenellated bell tower contains bells playing the Cambridge Quarters, as well as ringing the Angelus and ringing before Mass; a bell elsewhere sounds during the eucharistic consecration. The chime of bells, donated in 1913, are playable from a console in the Lady Chapel. Ten of the bells are stationary; the largest (the 11th bell) can be swung.[10]

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Church building c. 1910. Note the rose window above the west door; the window was replaced after the First World War with the Archangel Michael memorial window.

There is a hammerbeam roof.[4] The nave comprises five bays and a clerestory, all with stained glass. In all, the building's stained glass includes 50 figurative windows and six ornamental windows.[11]

Rood screen

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Rood screen and chancel ceiling

A large carved wooden rood screen surmounted with a crucifixion separates the chancel from the nave. The screen, designed by Percy M. Fowler of Trenton, New Jersey,[12] was added to the building in 1912. Its cast iron gates are by celebrated blacksmith Samuel Yellin (1884–1940).[13]

Chancel

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The chancel contains a decorated coffered ceiling.

High altar and reredos

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The high altar is made of Caen stone and was installed in 1905.[14] In 1929 the artist and parishioner George Fort Gibbs created seven paintings for the high altar's reredos as a memorial to his parents. The center panel is a Virgin and Child flanked by panels depicting other figures from the Christian era and Old Testament: Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Peter, King Saint Edward the Confessor (last king of the English House of Wessex), Moses, Aaron, and King David.[13]

Lady chapel

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There is a separate Lady chapel, dedicated in 1918, at the top of the south aisle. The space was originally a sacristy and choir room.[12] The current limestone altar was installed in 1954. The tabernacle and triptych, as well as the carved double-desk, are by parishioner Davis d'Ambly and date from the 1980s.[13] There is a carved Marian votive shrine in the chapel.

 
Lady Chapel

Baptistry

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An octagonal baptistry with carved font and stained glass was added off the south side of the nave in 1932. The chandelier is by Samuel Yellin and the glazing and polychrome are by Valentine d'Ogries (1889–1959).[13]

Stations of the Cross

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The fourteen Stations of the Cross were painted between 1956 and 1962 by parishioner and local artist Constance LaBoiteaux Drake. Models for the male images ranged from the artist's sons, to lifeguards on Nantucket Island, students at Haverford College, and (for the Roman soldiers) Italian sailors aboard the SS Leonardo da Vinci.[15] The stations are painted in tempera, on wood. The frames were made by Philip Jenney.[16]

War memorial

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The war memorial, created in 1942, honors parishioners who have served in the armed forces in and since World War II. It was installed at the urging of a parishioner, Lt. Gen. Milton Baker, who also established the nearby Valley Forge Military Academy and College.[13]

Crypt

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There is a columbarium and funerary chapel in the crypt of the church, along with a burial vault containing the remains of benefactor Harry Banks French and members of his family.

Memorial Garden

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Adjacent to the church outside, there is a memorial garden for the interment of cremated remains.

Stained glass

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Bell tower narthex (North door)

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West wall

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Clerestory Windows, Gospel Side

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Clerestory Windows, Epistle Side

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Worship

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Schedule

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The church is open Monday through Friday for eucharistic adoration, and meditation. Masses are celebrated on Sunday at 8:00 am (Low Mass) and at 10:30 am (Sung High Mass). Separate children's and adult formation classes are held before and after Mass.

Morning Prayer is held on Monday to Saturday at 9:00 am and Evening Prayer on Monday to Friday at 5:30 pm.

Mass is also celebrated on Wednesdays, Fridays, and major holy days regardless of whether they fall on Wednesdays or Fridays.

Choral evensong with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is held throughout the year.

 
Our Lady of Walsingham shrine at Good Shepherd. The original shrine in England was suppressed in 1538 during the English Reformation, but devotion to her was revived in the 20th century by Anglo-Catholics.

Practice

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As at other high Church, Anglo-Catholic churches, worship and liturgy at Good Shepherd incorporate the later Catholic Revival's devotional and eucharistic practices:

Music program

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Since January 2024, the parish organist and director of music is Robert McCormick.

The choir comprises a professional core, auditioned volunteer singers, and one or more choral scholars from area colleges. The choir sings weekly at the 10:30 High Mass on Sundays, roughly once monthly for Choral Evensong or another similar service, and at special liturgies throughout the year, including Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Ash Wednesday, the solemn liturgies of Holy Week, Easter, and Pentecost. The choir offers a sung setting of the Mass on most Sundays and feast days ranging from Palestrina and Victoria to Stanford and Parry and the great English cathedral repertoire, as well as sacred music being written for the church today such as James MacMillan, Eriks Esenvalds, and local Philadelphia composers. The Good Shepherd Choristers, for children ages 7 and above, was founded in September 2024.[17]

Organ

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The organ at Good Shepherd is an Austin, Op. 2613 (1977), with three manuals and 57 ranks of pipes.

Outreach

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Rosemont Community Retreat House

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The parish has an adjacent community retreat house, located in the renovated former rectory. Accommodations include seven guestrooms, three bathrooms, and two kitchens. Part of the parish's outreach is to serve and strengthen the Church by offering formation for parish musicians, clergy, seminarians, students of sacred music, and all who wish spiritual nourishment. The parish especially values the arts in relation to liturgy and spirituality. The retreat programs feature contemplative encounters with literature and visual art, as well as instrumental and choral music. In addition to "program" (multi-day) retreats and "day" (single-day) retreats, anyone is welcome who wishes to make an individual retreat in a peaceful setting where there is a regular rhythm of public prayer.[18]

Main Line Early Music

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The church is the venue for an annual early music series of concerts, including some of the region's finest early music ensembles, performing on period instruments.[19]

Galleries

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Art and architecture

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Stained Glass (examples)

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Stations of the Cross

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Notes

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  1. ^ Fr. Mead went on to serve as Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, from 1996 to 2014.
  2. ^ In 2002 Rev. David Moyer was deposed from the priesthood by the bishop of Pennsylvania, Charles E. Bennison. Fr. Moyer remained de facto rector of Good Shepherd until 2011 when the parish was returned to control of the Diocese of Pennsylvania by court order, and he vacated the premises.

See also

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania).

References

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  1. ^ a b "About Anglo-Catholicism". www.goodshepherdrosemont.com. 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  2. ^ Anne E. Johnson (March 6, 2023). "Early Music is Flowering on Philly's Main Line, and Beyond". Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  3. ^ It is Pennsylvania non-profit corporation entity number 66578, incorporated 23 May 1870 (Records of the Pennsylvania Secretary of State).
  4. ^ a b c Hill 2005, p. 1.
  5. ^ "CPI Inflation Calculator". Retrieved December 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "An Historical Sermon Delivered in the Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd Rosemont Pa. By the Rector the Rev. Arthur B. Conger A.M. On the Third Sunday After Trinity June 12th, 1910". Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  7. ^ "Baily & Truscott (fl. 1890-1904)". Retrieved December 24, 2018.
  8. ^ Coates, Edward Osborne. An historical sketch of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Pennsylvania, 1869-1934 (unknown publisher, 1935).
  9. ^ "Kyle Babin". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  10. ^ Church of the Good Shepherd (2019), Treasures of Heaven, The Art and Architecture of Good Shepherd, Rosemont, a Self-Guided Tour
  11. ^ "Census of Stained Glass Windows in America". Retrieved November 29, 2019.
  12. ^ a b Hill 2005, p. 3.
  13. ^ a b c d e Church of the Good Shepherd 2019.
  14. ^ Hill 2005, p. 2.
  15. ^ Constance LaBoiteaux Drake, Six Years Fourteen Stations, Bryn Mawr Alumnae Bulletin (Winter 1963).
  16. ^ Hill 2005, p. 13.
  17. ^ "Choir at Good Shepherd". Retrieved November 27, 2019.
  18. ^ "Rosemont Community Retreat House". Retrieved June 27, 2023.
  19. ^ "Main Line Early Music". Retrieved June 27, 2023.

Bibliography

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  • Hill, J. Bennett (2005). A Guide to the Architecture, the Windows, and the Furnishings and Ornaments of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont, Pennsylvania. Rosemont, Pennsylvania: Church of the Good Shepherd.

Further reading

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  • Brown, Stewart J. & Nockles, Peter B. ed. The Oxford Movement: Europe and the Wider World 1830–1930, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
  • Chadwick, Owen. Mind of the Oxford Movement, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960.
  • Faught, C. Brad. The Oxford Movement: a thematic history of the Tractarians and their times, University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-271-02249-9
  • Rzeznik, Thomas F. Church and Estate: Religion and Wealth in Industrial Era Philadelphia. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2013, ISBN 978-0-271-05967-9
  • Walworth, Clarence A. The Oxford Movement in America. New York: United States Catholic Historical Society, 1974 (Reprint of the 1895 ed. published by the Catholic Book Exchange, New York).
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