What does a quick look at the neighborhood tell you about the community surrounding this church?
The church is located in an urban setting in the middle of downtown Pittsburgh. Facing the church, to the right is a highrise office building with retail stores on the first floor. To the left is another church. These two churches are side-by-side sandwiched in between tall office buildings.
What does the building tell you about the culture of this church?
The building architecture style is gothic and stands in stark contrast the downtown office buildings around it. The building looks “historic” and suggests that the church has a long history in the community. The cornerstone is dated 1903.
At street-level is a church sign that contains information about worship services – the time and the title of the upcoming sermon and the name of the pastor.
The main
entrance to the church is not on the street level. There are steps to be climbed from
street-level to the front doors of the church.
The church also has a handicapped accessible door on the street level,
but that is not the main entrance to the church.
What do the material objects inside the church tell you?
The inside architecture is gothic as well. There is a considerable amount of wood and stone with ornate detail in the arches and stonework in the front of the church and the pulpit. There are stained glass windows lining both sides of the sanctuary.
Both inside and out, the church building demonstrates a long presence in the community and considerable wealth. Once inside the church there is a small “narthex” in the back of the sanctuary. There are some basic “welcome” materials on a table in the narthex that provide a bit of information about the church building, worship services and activities at the church.
Looking at the bulletin (if one is available inside the
sanctuary), what do you learn about the symbols, rituals, worldview, tradition,
and culture of this church?
The day of the visit was a weekday and there was neither a worship service on that day nor was there a bulletin from a previous Sunday available. The building exterior and interior is eye-catching as you walk down the street and enter the building. By its architecture it states a long-presence in the community and likely has a number of long-standing traditions and rich history. While the cornerstone has a date in the early 1900s, other materials include the fact that the present building is the fourth building and that the church was incorporated in 1787.
Thinking about the ways that Pittsburgh has changed in the years since the early 1900s to the present would suggest that this church has had to make some modifications to its mission within the community over time. While in recent years there has been a resurgence in the number of people living in downtown Pittsburgh, it is likely that this church has had to draw its membership from people living outside of the downtown area of Pittsburgh. It would be interesting to know how the church did that and what draws people to travel to downtown rather than worship at a church within the community in which they live.