St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia

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St. Mark's Episcopal Church
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
Location:	1607-27 Locust St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:	39°56′56″N 75°10′7″W / 39.94889, -75.16861Coordinates: 39°56′56″N 75°10′7″W / 39.94889, -75.16861
Built/Founded:	1848
Architect:	John Notman; Cope & Stewardson
Architectural style(s):	Gothic Revival
Added to NRHP:	April 19, 1982
NRHP Reference#:	82003815[1]
Governing body:	Private

St Mark's Episcopal Church, Philadelphia, at 1625 Locust St, Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an Episcopal church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. It is part of the Diocese of Pennsylvania. It was founded in the mid-19th Century as part of the Tractarian Oxford Movement revival in the Anglican Church.

The building was built by John Notman in the Gothic Revival style between 1847 and 1849. The Lady Chapel is in the Late Decorated Gothic style, as it was built in 1900, donated with all its furnishings by Rodman Wanamaker in memory of his late wife; the ceiling is the first known example of a stone vault in America. The building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The church contains several ornaments by Charles Eamer Kempe; the Lady Chapel was originally decorated entirely according to Kempe's designs, and when it was later redecorated the altar was moved to the head of the north aisle to become the St. John's Altar, and the polychromed figures moved throughout the church, while the original stained glass remains in place. The church also has several Kempe frontals, representing a significant proportion of the surviving embroideries from that firm, some of which are still in occasional use. The Lady Chapel now contains a world-renowned silver altar with nearly 150 individually sculpted saints and scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary; it is traditionally said of this altar that it is "the only place where one can worship both God and Mammon at the same time." The tower is one of the few in North America hung for change-ringing, with a ring of eight bells.

The 1937 Aeolian-Skinner organ at the front of the church is one of the few organs by G. Donald Harrison to be preserved in pristine condition. It is an early example of Harrison's American Classic style and also contains a String Organ given by Rodman Wanamaker and installed by the Wanamaker Organ Shop. The Screen Organ is by Carlton Michell of the Austin Organ Company and resides in a handsomely carved case.

The church maintains a daily Mass schedule, as well as running a food cupboard and soup kitchen. Fr. Sean Mullen, formerly the Curate, was recently installed as the 14th Rector of the parish.

[edit] External links

• The church
• The bells
• Aerial photo
• Map
• Mystery worshipper reports: [1], [2], [3]
• The Wanamaker Organ

[edit] References

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