The exterior of Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. Daniel Kontz.

Faith on the Avenue

Documenting Fifteen Years of Change on One Philadelphia Street 

By Katie Day, PhD, Research Coordinator, and Marquisha Scott, PhD, University of Denver 

On a cold day in December, we slowly drove down the length of Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia—all 8.5 miles of it—looking for its sacred places. For Katie, this was familiar territory, having been immersed in a study of the Avenue between 2005 and 2013 with a research team, which was published as Faith on the Avenue: Religion on a City Street (Oxford University Press, 2014). She described it at the time as “something between a project and an obsession.” This urban ecology was endlessly fascinating because it was always changing, despite the long, deep history that grounds Germantown Avenue. Originally an ancient trail called “the Great Road” by the Lenape peoples, the Avenue went on to become home for European immigrants who brought their diverse faith traditions. The first remonstrance against slavery was signed in 1688 at the original Mennonite church there—one of two mother churches on the Avenue. The Avenue played a role in the Revolutionary War, as the site of the Battle of Germantown. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson moved to Germantown to escape the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 in the city’s center. The Avenue later sheltered many who were escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad and is the burial site of prominent abolitionists.

But we were curious to find out what is different since Katie’s study—how it has changed still more over the last decade. Marquisha brought a fresh pair of eyes, new questions, and the advantageous insights of a researcher new to this context. A new team embarked on a new exploration of the Avenue.  

There is no simple narrative on the transition in congregational life, nationally or locally. While the number of congregations has decreased, sacred life has not disappeared. It has, however, been reconfigured and re-formed across sacred places, the built environment and the communities. The Avenue reflects a complex and dynamic religious ecology, where continuity is disrupted as communities change. Yet there is a persistence in how institutions adapt and evolve.

A Corridor in Transition  

At the national level, larger religious trends have been documented by research organizations such as Faith Communities Today, Exploring the Pandemic’s Impact on Congregations (EPIC), Gallup, Pew Research on Religion, and the National Congregations Study. Taken together, they show a long-term restructuring of religious life in the United States: declining participation, smaller congregations, and uneven recovery following the pandemic. 

What do these national patterns look like on the ground? On Germantown Avenue, the changes are measurable and uneven. In the original research period, culminating in 2014, the number of congregations along Germantown Avenue ranged between 83 and 93—about 10 faith communities per mile. By 2025–2026, only 42 of those congregations remained. Seven buildings now house new congregations, and two entirely new congregations have formed—bringing the total to 51, or 6 per mile, a significant loss.

Uneven Loss, Unequal Impact  

The losses were unevenly distributed. Those most vulnerable to closure were the smaller, independent congregations, reflecting EPIC’s 2025 data showing that the smallest congregations experienced the deepest declines between 2020 and 2025. Black congregations rooted in local relational networks were among the most affected. For the communities in which these smaller faith communities were located, their loss represents an erosion of a specific, hyper-local religious life that is not easily replaced.

Other types of congregations had closed as well. A decade ago, there were three megachurches on the Avenue. Two are still very active, but one that had occupied the historic Market Square Presbyterian Church (in the prosperity Gospel tradition of the early 2000s) closed and moved to an affluent community in New Jersey. Two of the eleven historic mainline Protestant churches that served as neighborhood anchors closed, and a third is hanging on, struggling to maintain its imposing 200-year-old structure with a small but hardy faithful remnant of members.

The pandemic was disruptive for congregations on Germantown Avenue, especially for those already at risk. Virtually all congregations lost members and income. Participation patterns also shifted since the original study and the pandemic exacerbated these trends. Dwayne Grannum, chairperson of the board of megachurch New Covenant, noted, “The numbers are just not the same as they were before the pandemic.” These disruptions forced congregations to confront questions of identity, mission, and for many, their very existence. Clearly, things were changing, prompting us to ask, what is being preserved and transformed? And where does sacred continuity reside on this historic street—in stone, in song, in name, or in gathered body? On Germantown Avenue, religious continuity is not always defined by the sacred places that remain, but can be tied to persistence of practice and relationship.

Adaptation and Renewal  

Congregations are adaptive and quickly learned new technologies during the pandemic as most pivoted to online worship. Five years after the pandemic shutdown, many maintain hybrid worship, although in-person worship is greatly preferred as relatively few participate online, reflecting the national trends found by EPIC. Those who attend worship in person are much more engaged in the life of the congregation.

Beyond technology, adaptation led some of the oldest congregations on the Avenue to do more than simply survive the pandemic, but also to thrive. New mission projects were started, and new uses of historic sacred buildings were imagined and developed. Those who used the challenging pandemic years not to hibernate but to re-engage their community generated a synergy that carries them forward. 

In the earlier study, Germantown Mennonite Church (GMC) had been using part of its space to house a homeless family, but that program was closed during the shutdown. Coming out of the pandemic, GMC decided to focus on young adults in the community. Linking with other congregations, members developed a multi-church youth group, which not only provides much-needed social connections for students who had been isolated, but also monthly serious conversations on sexuality. They linked with a youth theater organization as well. The fellowship hall became rehearsal space and the sanctuary a theater for performances for Yes! And… Collaborative Arts. The building buzzes with the energy that theater uniquely brings through the classes, workshops, and four summer camp sessions for kids from kindergarten through 12th grade. GMC has also formed a partnership with Tikkun Olam Synagogue—which shares space and sometimes worships with GMC. The congregations share values too and have partnered in advocacy for immigrants. The Rev. Jay Bergen of GMC admits that finances are a struggle: “A constant source of stress, but not panic.” GMC’s building is getting the attention it needs to shelter its growing programs.  

The bookends of Germantown Avenue are the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill (PCCH) and Al-Aqsa mosque. Despite the challenges of the intervening years, both remain vital and engaged in their communities. 

Al-Aqsa reflects a broader shift along the corridor: the growing Muslim presence within what was once a predominantly Christian religious landscape. There is a new active masjid in a commercial building that once housed a small Evangelical congregation. At another masjid on the Avenue, Germantown Masjid, the imam has developed businesses and housing around the mosque, furthering the community impact that they started during the original study.

PCCH continues to function as a neighborhood anchor in Northwest Philadelphia. Like many mainline Protestant congregations, it has fewer members than it did in 2010. Yet it does not live under a shadow of decline—quite the opposite. Despite challenges posed by leadership transitions and the pandemic, it has expanded its role as a community hub, growing the programs it houses that serve multiple generations, from a preschool program for over 80 children to a wellness center for older adults that attracts 150 to200 seniors each week for a highly diverse offering of classes and experiences. The Rev. Ellen Hensle of PCCH described the congregation as being in “a time of life and liveliness.” Now is a time “of dreaming and planning,” she said, to improve sacred places so that they can “continue to be a place of connecting every day of the week, as God wills for all people.”

Taken together, the mosques, Germantown Mennonite, and the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill illustrate a broader pattern on the Avenue: religious presence is more than just the numbers of worship attendees. It appears in adaptation, expanded community engagement, and increasing religious diversity.

Sacred Space and Economic Change 

Communities of all kinds act as complex dynamic ecologies—shaping and being shaped by the interaction of social, cultural, and economic trends. Congregations are not isolated nor immune to this interaction but are active agents within them. A major driver of change on the Germantown Avenue corridor is economic development, which has had, and continues to have, an impact on sacred places and vice versa. 

Around Al-Aqsa, new housing development has replaced deteriorating buildings. The neighborhood would be unrecognizable were it not for the attractive and recently restored mosque and school at the center. Coming up the Avenue, several independent storefront churches were leveled to make room for new apartments, though some, like Father’s House of Prayer and St. John Memorial Church in Fair Hill, continue to have an active ministry with their new neighbors.

Oftentimes, developers take care in preserving the historic sacred places that have provided an aesthetic presence for generations. Ken Weinstein, a local developer focused on Germantown Avenue, has respected the beauty of historic St. Michael’s Lutheran Church, which had an active congregation from 1737 until 2016. After he acquired the church, he carefully restored it and repurposed it as a pediatrician’s office and a fitness center, extensions of the church’s mission.

Likewise, Weinstein acquired Mt. Airy Presbyterian Church in 2018 after a declining congregation was no longer able to maintain the large granite structures. After selling the property, the congregation worshipped for a time in the old sanctuary, later moving to a shared space with another church. Their beloved old building, however, has been restored: the education building now houses condominiums and the sanctuary is home to a theater company. But the Gothic architecture remains.  

Relocation Without Disappearance  

Similar to other Weinstein purchases, the New Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church building is part of a larger redevelopment strategy. Weinstein purchased the mid-century church in 2024, along with adjacent commercial properties. Within the church walls, he is creating bi-level affordable apartments—a benefit to the neighborhood in keeping with the mission of the congregation. 

At first glance, this could be read as a story of sacred displacement. The building—reportedly the only pre–Civil War African American church in Germantown—will no longer function as a house of worship. But the congregation has not disappeared.

The profits from the sale enabled the congregation to relocate nearby, to a spacious, attractive building where they worship in the traditional Black church liturgical form. The congregation identifies itself as  “New Bethel Germantown,” maintaining geographic identity even in relocation. 

Worshippers dress in African garments. Gospel singing fills the sanctuary: “In that great getting up morning… no man can hinder me.” Recently, a service opened with a resonant theme: “Welcome Home.”

New Bethel complicates narratives of decline or closures. Architecturally, a historically significant Black church will become housing on Germantown Avenue. Institutionally, a historically significant Black congregation continues in culturally-rooted worship. Here, sacred continuity is not tied to a single building, but the community that carries it forward.

Germantown Avenue reveals a shifting sacred landscape, where some congregations may close but their buildings can bring new life to communities. Other communities of faith find innovative ways to adapt their buildings to better serve their neighborhoods. Despite transitions and transformations, the Avenue still holds faith, living it out in new ways.

A martial arts class takes place inside the former St. Michael’s sanctuary. Daniel Kontz.