The Project has come to the realization that North / Northeast Philly is a really large area. Really large. So much so that the number of potential churches here dwarfs the number in South, West and Center City Philadelphia. We could do nothing but North Philly churches for a month, and it still wouldn’t bring the totals into balance. Still, I need to try, right?
To that end, I present to you Bridesburg’s All Saints. This church is notable for its black roof and dark stone construction. In fact, it’s a serious contender for the title of “Church of My Nightmares,” since, well, said construction gives it a creepy vibe. Once upon a time I would have easily pinned that title on even creepier St. Boniface. Since that parish is no more, All Saints is the current front-runner.
All Saints actually bears a lot of resemblance to nearby St. Adalbert. Not the exterior, of course, but the interior. It’s much smaller, but you get a similar columned, Gothic design (although All Saints is non-cruciform, whereas Adalbert is faux-cruciform), along with comparable plaster paintwork and windows of the same size and scope.
That’s where the similarities end, however. The paintwork lacks the Eastern-European-inspired craziness, and the windows lack the same bloody grit. Even the altar is less inspired; nice, but certainly no match for the floor-to-arched-ceiling concoction of Adalbert.
If it sounds like All Saints is a poor-man’s St. Adalbert, well…that’s the impression I get. Not that it isn’t a lovely parish, but everything here is done just a little better down the road in Church Alley.
It’s worth seeing for completists, but choose Adalbert instead if you’re pressed for time.
Size Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Ornamentation Rating: 8 out of 10
Overall Design Rating: 7.5 out of 10 crosses
