St. James Kingsessing

St. James Kingsessing
St. James Kingsessing Episcopal Church
St. James Kingsessing Show map of Pennsylvania St. James Kingsessing Show map of the United States
39°55′20″N75°14′21″W / 39.922136°N 75.239052°W / 39.922136; -75.239052
Location	6838 Woodland Ave Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19142
Country	United States
Denomination	Episcopal
Website	stjameskingsessing.org

St. James Kingsessing, commonly called "Old Swedes," is an historic American church located at 68th Street and Woodland Avenue in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is one of the churches created by settlers and descendants of the Delaware Valley colony of New Sweden, a colony planted by the Swedish South Company that existed from 1638 and 1655, when it was conquered by the Dutch. St. James, built in 1762, is a sister congregation to the old Swedish church of Gloria Dei in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

The church reported 221 members in 2018 and 76 members in 2023; no membership statistics were reported in 2024 parochial reports. Plate and pledge income reported for the congregation in 2024 was $57,924. Average Sunday attendance (ASA) in 2024 was 58 persons. ^[4]

References

1. Burr, Nelson H. (1938). "The Early History of the Swedes and the Episcopal Church in America". Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 7 (2): 113–132. JSTOR   42968310.
2. White, Joyce L. (1977). "The Affiliation Of Seven Swedish Lutheran Churches With The Episcopal Church". Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 46 (2): 171–186. JSTOR   42973552.
3. "Historic Churches in Philadelphia". Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia. 56 (1): 17–35. 1945. JSTOR   44209578.
4. "Explore Individual Parochial Report Trends". General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Retrieved 25 January 2026.

Further reading

• The Old Swede's Church of St. James Kingsessing, 1762, printed 1911
• Richard Mammana, "Swedish Full Communion" in The Living Church, September 27, 2022