Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church began informally in January 1873 in the
Temperance Hall on the Lancaster Pike. The officially recognized group
soon bought a larger piece of ground on Montgomery Avenue where the
church stands today. The first pastor, the Reverend William H. Miller,
began his work in the new chapel in September 1874 and stayed for
thirty-three years, helping to build the church in 1886.
In 1894 the first Sunday School building was completed and in 1886 the
Brownstone Church was dedicated. 1927 saw the present Sanctuary
Building dedicated. The education building was built in 1931 and
renovated in 1999. When the original greenstone 1874 chapel became too
small the redstone church to the right was added in 1886. In 1927 the
parish, on a leap of faith, razed the redstone church and built the
present church with seating for twice the membership at the time.
In 1912, Pastor Mutch, and his family emigrated from Scotland, sailing
a week later than planned as the boat they tried to get on, the
Titanic, did not have enough room for them. Ada Mutch, Pastor Mutch's
older daughter, is a 1922 graduate of the Baldwin School and served as
a nurse in several of the local hospitals well into her 90s.
Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church
The current Chapel was built in 1940 and houses four treasured Tiffany
windows that were memorials in the original Church built in 1886. The
foundation and three walls of that church are the framework of the new
Chapel. In 1883 Converse House, originally built as the manse, was used
as the senior Pastor's home and remained so until 1990. In 1990, the
Ministries Center was built to house offices and spaces for large
groups. The Ministries Center also incorporates Converse House and the
Activities Building into a unified whole.
