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.

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]

In 2017, the church reported 72 members; in 2023, it reported 50 members.^[3] No membership statistics were reported in 2024 national parochial reports.^[4] Plate and pledge financial support reported by the church in 2024 was $204,789.^[5] Average Sunday Attendance (ASA) reported in 2024 was 63 persons. This was a relative increase on ASA of 26 reported in 2020.^[6]

History

The parish was founded in 1869 as part of the post-Oxford Movement Anglo-Catholic revival in the Anglican Church,^[7] and was admitted to the Diocese of Pennsylvania in 1871. Its original church building, demolished in 1901,^[8] was on the north side of Lancaster Avenue, just east of the present football stadium of Villanova University.

The church building was designed by the Philadelphia architectural firm of Baily & Truscott.^[9] 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.^[10]

Rectors

Priest in charge

Art and architecture

Entrance and bell tower

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.^[14]

Nave and stained glass

There is a hammerbeam roof.^[8] 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.^[15]

Rood screen

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,^[16] was added to the building in 1912. Its cast iron gates are by blacksmith Samuel Yellin (1884–1940).^[17]

Chancel

The chancel contains a decorated coffered ceiling.

High altar and reredos

The high altar is made of Caen stone and was installed in 1905.^[18] 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.^[17]

Lady chapel

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.^[16] 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.^[17] There is a carved Marian votive shrine in the chapel.

Baptistry

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).^[17]

Stations of the Cross

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.^[19] The stations are painted in tempera, on wood. The frames were made by Philip Jenney.^[20]

War memorial

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.^[17]

Crypt

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

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

Music

Choirs

The Church of the Good Shepherd maintains two choirs in the Anglican choral tradition: a semi-professional choir of adults, and the Good Shepherd Choristers for children ages 7 and above. From 2024 to 2026, the Director of Music was Robert McCormick.

Organ

The organ at Good Shepherd is an Austin, Op. 2613 (1977), with three manuals and 56 ranks of pipes along with 9 digital voices installed by Walker Technical Company.^[21] Revisions, nudging the organ in a more Romantic direction, were undertaken in 1988 after water damage to the organ chambers.

Galleries

Art and architecture

Stained Glass (examples)

Stations of the Cross