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Shiloh Baptist Church
Showing
FREE
FREE
History
Shiloh Baptist Church Victorian architecture and maze-like interior tell two stories: of the church's first congregation, the Church of the Holy Apostles, and of its second and current congregation, Shiloh. In the 1860s, southwestern center city experienced a building boom, and its many working-class residents needed their own church. The firm of Fraser, Furness, and Hewitt built the grand structure, but the church's tremendous growth, boosted by its Sunday School programs, required various additions in 1873, 1893, 1902, and 1903. Church membership reached over 10,000 by the 1910s, and the church utilized the cutting edge Akron Plan a theater-like plan with individual sections around a large room for its Sunday School. Despite its successes, by the 1940s, the neighborhood demographics were changing, and many of the church's members were moving away. Holy Apostles moved out of the city, and the Shiloh Baptist congregation bought the large church in 1945, utilizing its Sunday School building and other rooms to continue functions popular during Holy Apostles tenure: basketball games, scouting, church group meetings, and Bible study. While the church remained a beacon in the community for many, its attendance has declined significantly in recent years, and the neighborhood followed suit. However, the neighborhood has recently seen a resurgence with the help of community organizations and the steadfast presence of Shiloh Baptist Church.
Research: Sarah L. Hunter
Site Photos: Joseph E.B. Elliott
Like Lambs
Event Info
Saturdays 11:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sundays 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM
May 30 - June 28, 2009
May 30 - June 28, 2009
An almost Shakespearian space where a single preacher could teach many small, separated classrooms of children at once will be used by the artist to reconcile the differences between the religion that he was raised to believe in and the questions that he now faces as an adult. Steven Earl Weber’s installation in the Shiloh Baptist Church includes multiple videos and sculptures that enables visitors to experience the Frank Furness-designed church.
CHANGE: The Hidden City Soirée will take place on 6/25 at the Armory of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry. Please click on the schedule tab above for details.
Artist
Steven Earl Weber
http://stevenearlweber.comSteven Earl Weber, originally from Ohio, received his BFA (with concentrations in ceramics and glass) from Kent State University. Weber moved to Philadelphia in 1998 and has been working in the arts since his arrival, teaching adults and children in art classes in various places around town, exhibiting his sculpture locally and internationally as well as designing sets & costumes for ballet companies such as Pennsylvania Ballet & Ballet X. Steven Earl Weber is co-founder and director of Kelly & Weber Fine Art Gallery in the celebrated Crane Arts Building in Philadelphia, and teaches ceramics at University of Delaware as an adjunct professor.
