Category Archive: Religious Properties
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Downtown church moves forward after fire
By Candy Williams
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, March 4, 2007The colorful stained-glass windows bordering the sanctuary are obscured by intricate pillars of scaffolding, on which members of a restoration crew hover overhead. The pews are concealed by black plastic sheets, a day after the protective coverings were temporarily removed to allow parishioners to gather for another Sunday worship service.
On a cold Monday morning in February, the historic Smithfield United Church of Christ on Smithfield Street in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh is still recovering from a Jan. 1 fire. The fire destroyed the social hall and its centerpiece, a stained-glass window depicting Jesus and the children, and caused extensive smoke and water damage to the rest of the building. The Pittsburgh Fire Bureau ruled the fire an accident, and it was said to have been sparked by an electrical malfunction, according to church officials.There were no injuries in the fire, and for that the congregation is thankful. But it obviously was not the way they wanted to kick off the church’s 225th anniversary year celebration. But the Rev. J. Douglas Patterson, senior minister of the city parish, sees the recovery efforts as a temporary inconvenience.
“This is not the church,” he says.
Indeed, the ministry of the church’s people goes beyond the boundaries of its soot-covered walls. It will be at least a month before the cleanup and rebuilding project will near completion, Patterson says, yet the daily business of the church goes on. In addition to regular services at 11 a.m. Sunday and at 12:10 p.m. Wednesdays, the church welcomes students from Northside Urban Pathways Charter School, who take physical-education classes in its gymnasium during the day, and as many as 90 homeless men and women who sleep there at night as part of the Emergency Cold Weather Shelter program operated by Allegheny County’s Community Human Services Corp.
With windchills dipping below zero several times in February, the shelter has been a popular respite, the minister says, offering the poor and destitute hot meals, warm showers and protection from the elements.
Along with four other downtown Pittsburgh churches — First Lutheran Church, First Presbyterian Church, St. Mary of Mercy Roman Catholic Church and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral — Smithfield also participates in a Walk-in Ministry that provides groceries and other assistance to those in need in the downtown community. Every fifth week on a rotating basis, each church opens its food pantry and supplies the needy with packaged and frozen food, along with household cleaning products and health and beauty supplies bought from the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Rena Thomas, business administrator at Smithfield United Church of Christ, oversees the program at Smithfield and makes sure the pantry and freezer in a room off her office are well-stocked. She says she serves 55 families on a regular basis each month in addition to new people who hear of the service from others. Most of the men and women who take advantage of the Walk-in Ministry live within a mile of the church.
In one of her reports to the church council, Thomas noted that in 2006, 641 individuals were served through the food-distribution program. Some 61 percent of them were 60 years old or older; 38 percent were ages 35-59; 68 percent were women, and 90 percent lived alone.
Thomas has worked for the Smithfield church since 1999 doing bookkeeping and office duties. She says that when the previous person in charge of the food pantry left, “Doug (Rev. Patterson) asked me if I’d take over. For most of (the people she serves), a lot would go without food if it wasn’t for us. I saw one woman who had a can of soup she was eating from for two or three days.”
Fellow parishioners have nothing but praise for Thomas’ abilities to seek out grants and donations for the program and to customize meals for her families.
“She is so extremely good at being able to talk to these people and see what their needs are,” says John Canning, a North Side resident and 30-year member of the congregation.
Nan Foltz, of Mt. Lebanon, who serves as president of the congregation, agrees. “Rena does such extraordinary work. Her reports at council meetings are incredible. I’m extremely respectful of the caliber of her leadership,” Foltz says.
Patterson says that since taking on the additional duties of administering the food ministry five years ago, Thomas has been instrumental in bringing in almost $20,000 in outside donations for the program.
The Walk-in Ministry is part of being a good neighbor, the pastor says, and that is a reputation that Smithfield United Church of Christ has worked hard to achieve. Patterson likes to refer to their outreach efforts as “extravagant hospitality.” It’s a commitment to community that members expect from being associated with “a downtown church,” he says.
“A downtown congregation is a different breed of people. They have to pass by a lot of churches that are more convenient to get here. Their expectations of a downtown church are higher. They expect more in the way the worship service is conducted, in the music and sermons, which is wonderful. People should have high expectations of their church,” Patterson says.
Unlike most houses of worship, Smithfield’s membership does not consist of a group of neighbors who live close enough to walk or drive a short distance from their homes to church. Because of the distance some members travel, the church has its business meetings and choir rehearsals before or after the Sunday church service to spare members the inconvenience of making another trip to town on a weekday evening. Patterson says he also uses e-mail and the church Web site, www.smithfieldchurch.org, to communicate with members.
“The Internet has been a wonderful tool for us,” Patterson says. “We’re surrounded by corporate Pittsburgh. Most people that I see on Sunday morning, I don’t see again during the week.”
Although his church doesn’t own a parking lot, parking usually isn’t an issue on weekends, Patterson says. The city Parking Authority has an arrangement with the Downtown Ministerium, of which Smithfield United Church is a member, to allow churchgoers Sunday parking in its garages for a $1 fee. Members must have their parking tickets stamped at church.
Patterson feels that diversity is one of his congregation’s biggest assets. The church was founded on the belief that everyone is welcome, as emphasized by their credo: “Ours is an inclusive congregation, committed to oneness in Christ across all boundaries of race, social class, culture, gender, sexual identity and disability.”
“It’s a non-issue; it’s just who we are,” he says.
Smithfield United Church of Christ, the oldest organized church Downtown, has been part of Pittsburgh since before it became a city. When the congregation was founded in 1782, Pittsburgh was a small village of about 250 people, mostly German immigrants.
In “Landmark Architecture of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania,” a book written by James D. Van Trump and Arthur P. Ziegler Jr. and published by Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation (1967), the authors note that in 1787, the heirs of William Penn granted to the German Lutheran and Reformed congregations a plot of land along Smithfield Street between Sixth Avenue and Strawberry Way, but a building was not erected there until 1791.
The German Evangelical Protestant Church was formed by the two groups in 1812, and three consecutive churches were built in 1815, 1833 and 1875-77, each one bigger than the one before it. The church united with the Congregational fellowship in 1925 and is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.
The current church building was designed in 1925 by noted New York architect Henry Hornbostel, who designed many other Pittsburgh landmark buildings, including Rodef Shalom Temple in Oakland, Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial in Oakland and the City-County Building, Downtown.
Albert Tannler, historical collections director for Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, says the Smithfield church is one of the few churches designed by Hornbostel. The Gothic Revival-style building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a contributing structure in the Downtown District National Register of Historic Places.
Tannler says the church’s design is unique in that its 80-foot-high spire was made from steel and cast aluminum, representing the first use of aluminum in building architecture.
“The architect wanted it to be all aluminum, but the Building Code people wouldn’t allow it to happen,” Tannler says. “People weren’t sure in the 1920s about how strong aluminum was. The city required that the frame be built of steel and the panels made of aluminum.”
Another artistic feature of the church is the sanctuary’s elaborate stained-glass windows, created by Von Gretchen Studios. Several themes are represented in their design, including the chronological story of the life and teachings of Jesus, people and places with special meaning to the church heritage and scenes related to Pittsburgh’s history. Two additional stained-glass windows near a staircase leading to the sanctuary depict Moses and Paul, and the Lord’s Prayer written in German and in English. At the rear of the sanctuary, in the narthex, are the Faith, Love and Hope windows inspired by Scripture verses.
At a time when some churches are dealing with declining membership and dissatisfaction with traditional worship services, Smithfield United Church of Christ — which has not abandoned its conventional service in favor of trendy contemporary formats — continues to grow.
Church membership is about 230 members, with average attendance at the 11 a.m. Sunday service totaling 110. Members come from as far as Cranberry and Saxonburg in Butler County, Murrysville in Westmoreland County and Washington in Washington County.
Canning attributes the church’s staying power to “the worship experience and the strong commitment this church has to serving the city. This church operates 24/7,” he says.
Foltz says that even new members feel comfortable taking leadership positions alongside men and women who have been with the congregation for years. She is especially proud of women who have stepped up to serve when needed.
“Women of our congregation historically have been so strong and have been such role models for their participation and caring,” she says. “We have a nice blend of people who understand hospitality, or to use the phrase Doug uses ‘extravagant hospitality.’ ”
That kindness has been returned by others in the community, especially during the tenuous days after the fire in January, Foltz says. Owners of the nearby Smithfield Cafe opened their doors to the congregation so that a Mardi Gras celebration could go on as planned, and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh branch on Smithfield Street arranged for Patterson to use their Internet service.
Members continue to gather at the Smithfield Cafe for a fellowship meal on the first Sunday of each month after a service that celebrates the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Church members prepare and serve the meals and clean up afterward. A free-will offering is taken, and all worshippers are welcome.
During a Sunday morning worship service two weeks after the Jan. 1 fire, the congregation paid tribute to the stranger who discovered and reported the blaze, a Jesuit priest named James Conroy, who noticed the smoke while walking past the structure.
Church member Mariruth Stoecker-Keebler shared her gratitude toward Conroy with fellow parishioners in The Spire, the church newsletter:
“I am a fourth-generation Smithfielder,” she writes. “My great-grandparents, immigrating from Germany on both the Finder and Stocker sides, worshipped here at Smithfield. This is where my parents met as teenagers in ‘Pilgrim Fellowship.’ They married here. Our family has served on many committees/church councils and taught many Sunday school classes — proud to be part of this church’s history. The City of Pittsburgh could have lost an important part of its history New Year’s Day, but thanks to someone who saw and cared, the building and its congregation are still very much alive.”
Patterson assures his congregation and the Downtown community that cleanup efforts will continue — and so will the mission of the church. Plans are under way for several special events to coincide with Smithfield’s 225th anniversary. On April 15, John Thomas, the general minister and president of the church’s governing body, the United Church of Christ, is scheduled to deliver the sermon. The Rev. Pete Weaver, who served as pastor from 1977-88, has been invited to return to the pulpit for a worship service on Oct. 28. Co-chairs of the 225th Anniversary Committee are Glenn Callihan and Conway Keibler.
Canning, who serves as the congregation’s unofficial historian, says that if church leaders learned anything from the fire, it’s to be more protective of records that document church history.
“We have archives dating back to the late 18th century,” he says. “None were damaged, but the fire made us more conscious of being a little more careful to better protect them.”
The message inscribed on one of the stained-glass windows, “For we are saved by Hope” (Romans 8.24), seems to speak to the church’s rebuilding efforts.
Foltz says she has thought a lot about the fire recently and its effect on church members. Even before the incident, the church council was preparing a facilities-needs study and a strategic plan to guide its future ministry.
“In the Bible story of Moses and the burning bush, some interpreters talk about the bush burning, but it was not consumed. It was God’s message to Moses that ‘You can have a fire, but not have it consume you,’ ” Foltz says. “We did have a fire and our social hall did burn, but it has not and will not consume us. I believe it is clarifying us, helping us to understand where we go from here.”
About the church
* Bethlehem Haven, a Pittsburgh women’s shelter that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2006, was started at the Smithfield church in December 1981, where it remained for 18 years before moving to new facilities Uptown in April 2000.
* Henry John Heinz, founder of the H.J. Heinz Co. and great-grandfather of the late U.S. Sen. John Heinz, was baptized in Smithfield church in 1844, the year he was born.
* The church bells were refurbished in 2000 and ring every day at noon.
* The sanctuary’s baptismal font was carved from a piece of pure Italian marble.
* Although women were not granted the right to full voting membership in the congregation until 1921, members of the church’s Ladies Aid Society led the way for the creation of an orphanage in 1888 and a home for the aged in 1891. In the 1920s, they spearheaded a crusade to provide funding for widows. The group today is known as the Women’s Fellowship.
* Jim Donovan, drummer for the band Rusted Root, facilitates a drum circle at the church for interested participants. Drums are provided, and beginners are welcome. The cost is $10. The church owns several djembes, which are small African hand drums. For more information, call 412-281-1811.
* The massive cleanup effort after the Jan. 1 fire will include refurbishing the church organ console and organ pipes — all 3,743 of them. The organ was custom designed by William Mellor in 1967.
Source: Smithfield United Church of Christ
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Landmarks Awards $87,245 Plus Technical Assistance and Energy Studies to 22 Historic Religious Properties
Pittsburgh, PA: George C. Dorman, chair of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation’s Historic Religious Properties Committee, presented 15 grants, 7 technical assistance awards, and 2 energy conservation study awards to 22 historic religious properties in Allegheny County during an Awards Presentation on February 7. New members of Landmarks also attended the event, held at the Grand Concourse Board Room at Station Square, since year-end membership contributions help underwrite the annual program.
Thirty-two historic religious properties had submitted grant applications requesting a total of $278,000, and Landmarks was able to award grants of between $1,500 and $10,000, totaling $87,245. Landmarks is the only organization in the County that offers a continuing program of technical and financial support to architecturally-significant Historic Religious Properties.
“We continue to seek funds to support this program,” said Mr. Dorman, “because the need is great and our grants leverage matching contributions from the active congregations of architecturally-significant historic religious properties that also deliver services to their neighborhoods.” As a result, stained glass windows are repaired and restored and exterior improvements such as brick re-pointing, masonry work, and roof repairs are made.
“Including the awards presented today,” said Landmarks’ president Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr., “we have awarded more than $580,000 since the program’s inception in 1997 to more than 100 historic churches and synagogues. We are grateful to our many members, and to several businesses and foundations, whose year-end gifts––combined with general funds from Landmarks––make this program possible.”
GRANT AWARDS:
Bellevue United Presbyterian Church, Bellevue
Bethel Presbyterian Church, Bethel Park
Clark Memorial Baptist Church, Homestead
First Trinity Evangelical Church, Shadyside
Monumental Baptist Church, Hill District
Mt. Gilead Church, Wilkinsburg
Riverview United Presbyterian Church, Obsevatory Hill
Sacred Heart Church, Shadyside
St. Paul Cathedral, Oakland
St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Carnegie
Southminster Presbyterian Church, Mt. Lebanon
Valley Presbyterian Church, Imperial
Zion Christian Church, Carrick
GRANT PLUS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AWARDS:Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Mt. Oliver
Old St. Luke’s Church, Scott Township
Technical assistance is directed to assisting congregations in prioritizing restoration projects and establishing preventive maintenance programs.TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AWARDS
First Baptist Church of Glassport
Grace Episcopal Church, Mt. Washington
Grand View United Presbyterian Church, Mt. Washington
Lamb of God Christian Ministries, Homestead
St. John Evangelical Church, Mars
ENERGY CONSERVATION STUDY AWARDS
(thanks to the Saxer Family Foundation)Trinity Cathedral, Downtown
Valley View Presbyterian Church, Garfield
For more information, please contact Carole Malakoff, program coordinator, Historic Religious Properties Program, at 412-471-5808.Founded in 1964, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to identifying, preserving, and revitalizing historic structures, neighborhoods, and landscapes in the Pittsburgh region, and to educating people about this region’s rich architectural heritage.
### LS: HRP Press
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Fire destroys old Butler County church
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Tuesday, February 20, 2007A 125-year-old Butler County church is a total loss after a fire Sunday morning.
The blaze broke out inside McKee Chapel United Methodist Church around 8 a.m. It was discovered by a congregation member who had arrived early to warm the church before services.
He saw smoke and called 911, and seven fires companies rushed to the rural chapel in Fenelton, about eight miles east of Butler, but could not save it.
Fire marshals say a faulty furnace is to blame.
McKee Chapel had several dozen worshipers and was one of three churches pastored by the Rev. Sherry Cook.
Dean Ziegler, superintendent of the Methodist Church’s Butler district, said it is not known if the church will be rebuilt. It depends on the level of insurance compensation, the needs of the congregation and the possibility of a merger with a neighboring church.
Craigsville Methodist and Fenelton Methodist are the two closest churches and they are offering their sanctuaries as places of worship for the members of the burned-out church.
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Diocese sells Tarentum, McKeesport church properties
By Andrew Johnson
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, February 16, 2007Two shuttered churches in Tarentum and McKeesport have been sold to the Manhattan real estate firm, The Follieri Group LLC, according to the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.
The properties are the St. Clement Church owned by the Holy Martyrs Parish in Tarentum and St. Stephen Church owned by St. Pius V Parish in McKeesport. The St. Clement deal also involves school buildings and a parking lot, said diocesan spokesman Rev. Ronald Lengwin.The Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds has no record of the Tarentum transaction. But St. Stephen Church, located on Beacon Street in McKeesport, sold in January for $60,000, part of a “package deal” that includes a rectory, school building, and two parking lots, said Rev. Edward Litavec, pastor of the St. Pius V. He said St. Stephen Church closed in 2002 and merged with St. Pius V.
Litavec said money from the sale would go to care for St. Stephen Cemetery on Westinghouse Avenue in North Versailles.
Lengwin said The Follieri Group is interested in several other properties, and sales agreements on three have been reached, including one for the historic St. Nicholas Church on the North Side. Lengwin refused to give the price and also declined to name the other two churches.
He said a fourth church is for sale, but declined to name it.Messages left for The Follieri Group were not returned, but on its Web site, the company says that church properties it acquires “are converted to uses that would continue to serve and contribute to their respective communities in a socially responsible fashion consistent with the ideals of the Church.”
Some uses include “low and middle income housing, community centers, day-care facilities, senior citizen housing, places of worship, offices and retail spaces,” according to the company.
“We have confidence that they will live up to their promise,” Lengwin said.
Litavec said he has no idea what The Follieri Group intends to do with the empty McKeesport church.
“We were just so happy it sold,” he said. “There was always somebody breaking into the place.”
Since 2002, 15 vacant church buildings, including St. Stephen and St. Clement, have been sold, Lengwin said. All money made from selling church properties goes to the parish selling the individual church, Lengwin said.
Andrew Johnson can be reached at ajohnson@tribweb.com or 412-380-5632.
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Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr. Keynote Address at the 2006 National Preservation Conference
PHLF News
October 31, 2006“Preservation In Pittsburgh” Keynote address of Arthur P. Ziegler, Jr. at the 2006 National Preservation Conference held in Pittsburgh, PA, October 31, 2006
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Developer bids on 10 church properties
By Bill Zlatos
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, October 13, 2006The Follieri Group, a Manhattan-based developer, bid on 10 church properties in the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, in what could be its biggest sale in decades, diocesan officials announced Thursday.
“We have received sales agreements on 10 church properties,” said the Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the diocese. “Those parishes are being consulted.”Lengwin declined to divulge the locations of the properties, vacancy status, or the amount of the offer.
“We could be talking about churches,” he said. “We could be talking about convents. We could be talking about schools.”
If the deal goes through, Lengwin said, it would be the largest purchase in the diocese by a single buyer of church property during his 25 years. He said he does not know how many vacant buildings are in the 214 parishes in Allegheny, Washington, Greene, Beaver, Butler and Lawrence counties.
“There is no timetable,” he said. “It’s something we’d like to do as soon as possible.”
Marcy Simon, head of communications for the Follieri Group, said the firm has submitted bids on area properties, although she did not identify which.
“We’ve not closed on any properties, we have not owned any properties yet,” she said last night.
She said the company was built on the teachings and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, and in developing properties, the company’s model is “to always give back to the communities we acquire properties in” and “look to the local resources that are available in the community to work on the development projects.”
Lengwin previously said Follieri was interested in buying St. Nicholas Church on Route 28 in the North Side. He would not say yesterday whether it is among the 10 properties.
Follieri’s earlier interest in St. Nicholas angered the Croatian American Cultural and Economic Alliance, which thought it was close to a $250,000 deal with the diocese for the church, rectory, garages, a parking lot and contents. The alliance planned to spend more than $1 million to convert the church — home to the first Croatian parish in America — into a historical center and shrine.
“I’m certainly disappointed, because we put a lot of work and effort in this,” said Dr. Marion Vujevich, alliance chairman. “We got the short end of the stick.”
Susan Petrick, secretary of the Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation, also is disappointed.
“If the diocese’s true intention is to make it into a shrine, they should not consider offers from people who do not have the same intention,” she said. “I doubt that Follieri has any intention of making it into a shrine.”
PennDOT considered razing the 105-year-old church for a $130 million road-widening project, but spared it when the alliance and other groups secured a historic designation from the city.
Drawings by Astorino architects call for developing a park or Croatian village near the church, plans that would fall through if Follieri buys the church, Vujevich said.
But, said Lengwin, “We are always looking at that situation to see how we can resolve it.”
Bill Zlatos can be reached at bzlatos@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7828.
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Church lot eyed for office building
By Ron DaParma
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, May 26, 2006A Pittsburgh developer said Thursday it plans to build a nine-story office building designed to house medical offices and other institutional tenants at Bigelow Boulevard and Ruskin Avenue in Oakland.
The Elmhurst Group, Downtown, said the 143,000-square-foot Schenley Place complex is targeted for a parking lot owned by and adjacent to the First Baptist Church.
Construction is expected to begin as early as the fall, with the building ready for occupancy by 2008. The cost of the project has not been determined.
“During the past several years, we have focused our company’s attention on Oakland because of the strong economic generators of the universities and medical centers,” said Elmhurst President Bill Hunt.
Elmhurst’s projects include the fully occupied, six-story Rand Corp. building near St. Paul Cathedral at Fifth Avenue and Craig Street in Oakland.
It is in negotiations with Select Medical Corp., a Mechanicsburg, Cumberland County-based operator of specialty health care hospitals, to be a tenant for about 85,000 square feet.
Fully occupied, the building will be home to about 225 jobs, Hunt estimated. The project will include three levels of underground parking.
Elmhurst’s Schenley Place proposal drew objections at a recent hearing before the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission from the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and some residents of the Schenley Farms area.
“It is our opinion the building does not meet the criteria for the Oakland Civic Center Historic District in terms of scale, size, design or context,” Cathy McCollom, the foundation’s chief program officer, said yesterday.
The group does not object to erecting a building on the site, but suggests a smaller structure, with only about 64,000 square feet, as an alternative.
“We will work very hard with the community and the Historic Review Commission to make sure the building’s design and architecture blends with the rest of the Schenley Farms neighborhood, and the adjacent properties, including the First Baptist Church,” Hunt said.
Elmhurst believes the size of the building is permitted by zoning regulations, he said.
Ron DaParma can be reached at rdaparma@tribweb.com or 412-320-7907.
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Historic Religious Properties Receive Energy Audits
PHLF News
February 16, 2006In addition to awarding 16 grants totaling $80,300 in 2005, the Historic Religious Properties Committee took advantage of a generous opportunity of a matched grant from Saxer Foundation to hire an energy management and consulting service to analyze the energy consumption and costs of two historic churches. The grant of $2,000, was matched by Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation at the direction of Historic Religious Properties Committee. Mulberry Presbyterian Church in Wilkinsburg, and the New Hope Church in Marshall-Shadeland were selected to receive intensive energy audits.
Gregory Wozniak of G. A. Wozniak and Associates spent several days in each building meeting with maintenance exploring energy consumption, energy systems and operations of both churches. He then produced a comprehensive report with cost savings recommendations.
By initiating these recommendations New Hope Church can expect to reduce their energy costs 20%; saving $2,000 annually. Mulberry Presbyterian Church, with an annual utility cost approaching $42,000, expects to save over $9000 annually.
These are much needed dollars that can be used for other projects in both buildings.
Mr. Wozniak has agreed, at his own cost, to provide an additional energy audit for Old St. Lukes, an historic church in Scott Township.