West Philadelphia's Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church—located at 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue, and built over a century ago, in 1906—has a fascinating duality: It's more than just a place of worship. Today, the church's community center is a place where people gather for AA meetings, book clubs, and even the occasional birthday party.
But that hasn't always been the case. By the mid-1990s, the church's turn-of-the-century architecture, which houses beautiful woodwork, a world-class organ, two stained glass domes, and two of the largest signed Tiffany windows in the Delaware Valley, was falling apart. The ceiling in the sanctuary and the chapel was leaking and falling down. The heater was beyond repair. The bathrooms weren't even working.
Read Full Article »