Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral

Protestant Episcopal Church of the Saviour (now Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, May 2010
Show map of Philadelphia Show map of Pennsylvania Show map of the United States
Location	19 S. 38th St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates	39°57′20″N75°11′54″W / 39.95556°N 75.19833°W / 39.95556; -75.19833
Area	0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built	1855, 1898, 1902-1906
Architect	Burns, Charles M. Jr.
Architectural style	Romanesque, Italian Romanesque
Website	https://www.philadelphiacathedral.org/
NRHP reference No.	79002328 [1]
Added to NRHP	August 01, 1979

Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, located at 38th and Ludlow Streets in West Philadelphia, is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The cathedral reported 200 members in 2023; no membership statistics were reported in 2024 parochial reports. Plate and pledge income for the congregation in 2024 was $330,307 with average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 103. ^[2]

Formerly known as the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Saviour, it was built in 1855, renovated in 1898, and rebuilt in the year 1906, after an April 16, 1902 fire. ^[3]

In 1992 it became the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. ^[4]

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Recent history

A highly-controversial renovation of the interior was undertaken, 2000–2002, under then-cathedral dean Richard Giles, author of Re-Pitching the Tent: Re-Ordering the Church Building for Worship and Mission. ^[5] The pews, altar, and other church furniture were removed and sold and the decorated stone walls were stuccoed over and whitewashed. Modernist chairs and lighting fixtures in a severely minimalist style were introduced. The baptismal font was joined by an immersion pool for adults. These radical changes divided the congregation and were severely criticized in the press as 'cultural vandalism'. ^[6]

In 2012, facing an estimated $3.5 million bill to renovate its bell tower, then cathedral dean Judith Sullivan petitioned the Philadelphia Historical Commission for permission to demolish wholesale its brownstone Romanesque parish house and rectory, both NRHP-certified buildings. The demolition was approved and site completely filled with a 25-story apartment building which towers over the cathedral. ^[7]

See also

• List of the Episcopal cathedrals of the United States
• List of cathedrals in the United States

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. "Explore Individual Parochial Report Trends". General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
3. Carl E. Doebley (October 1978). National Register of Historic Places Registration: Pennsylvania SP Protestant Episcopal Church of the Saviour. National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved January 8, 2026. (Downloading may be slow.)
4. Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral - History Archived 2013-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
5. Re-Pitching the Tent from Amazon.com The cover photograph shows the cathedral's renovated interior.
6. Stephan Salisbury, "Work on historic church decried. One critic calls it 'cultural vandalism'," The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 17, 2001.
7. Stephan Salisbury, "Episcopal Cathedral gets OK to raze historic buildings, erect apartment high-rise," The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 10, 2012.

External links

• Cathedral website