No other area has confounded the Project as much as the greater Mt. Airy / Chestnut Hill region. Despite its considerable age and architecture prowess, it’s pretty abominable when it comes to churches. Our Mother of Consolation? Please. It’s all the more surprising considering that neighboring Germantown, as I’ve gushed numerous times, is probably the greatest concentration of church excellence in the entire metropolitan area.
After that early debacle, the dearth of suitable candidates kept us away from this place. But the Project has a way of mining diamonds from the rough, so to speak. (I also am a glutton for punishment, but that’s another story.) Hence, I unearthed another church to help redeem this area’s religious rep: the Episcopalian parish of St. Paul. Not to be confused with the Roman Catholic South Philly parish of the same name.
Ironically, St. Paul is right across the street from Our Mother of Consolation. But in terms of quality, it’s miles apart. St. Paul isn’t going to make anyone forget St. John the Baptist, but it’s surprisingly good in its own right—and it’s the first Protestant church that is more impressive than its nearest Roman Catholic neighbor. Go back and read that sentence again. Yeah, I’m shocked, too.
But not too shocked to appreciate what St. Paul brings to the table: an endearing Gothic non-cruciform design, highlighted by plentiful, intricate woodwork around in and around the sanctuary and on the ceiling. You probably know by now that the Project generally doesn’t approve of wooden ceiling beams, but the work here is so good that I’m going to give it a pass. My mediocre camera, sadly, didn’t allow me to capture it for you.
The real reason St. Paul succeeds is that it avoids using white plaster, and instead relies on a stone interior. (I suspect it’s limestone, because it’s bleeding in a way similar to Bryn Athyn and Our Lady of Hope.) The stone not only evokes a great dark, classic feeling, but it avoids making the church look plain and boring. It also serves as a much better counter to the wood, which might explain why, for once, it doesn’t bother me.
LOOK FOR IT: The intricately carved tympanum, above the entrance. It’s one of the most impressive we’ve seen.
LOOK FOR IT, PT 2: The “baby” room, back in the right-hand corner of the church, which features rocking chairs and some toys to soothe your ankle biters if they get too rowdy. It’s actually a rare feature in churches, and one that should be more prevalent. Pay special attention to the Tiffany window depicting Mary and the baby Jesus. It’s dark and not particularly ornate, but there’s something evocative about it nonetheless.
How the $#%@ do I get in here? It’s easier than you might think, since the front doors are actually where they should be. But the façade abuts closely to another building, and is connected to it by an overhang, so it’s not really prominent. Still, it’s better than most of its protestant ilk
Size Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Ornamentation: 7.5 out of 10
Overall Design Rating: 7.5 out of 10 crosses
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