Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church

The Bryn Mawr Presbyterian campus in the 1930s before the 1886 redstone church was razed.

Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, founded in 1873, has grown from the original greenstone chapel on unpaved, rural Montgomery Avenue to today’s large campus passed daily by thousands. When the 1874 chapel became too small, the redstone church was built in 1886 with a Sunday School Annex added in 1874. Demonstrating a leap of faith, in 1927 parishioners built the present church with seating for twice the membership. The growth continued: 1931, the Education Building; 1940, the Mary Catherine Pew Memorial Chapel; 1964, the Activities Building; and 1990, the Ministries Center which created offices and spaces for large groups as well as incorporating Converse House (manse built for the Mutches) and the Activities Building into a unified whole. But the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church is more than a collection of buildings. Its current membership of 3,500 carries on the strong tradition of its 16 founders to be a community of faith that serves the church, the community and the wider world.

In 1888 the church pledged to directly support two missionaries, one of whom was Dr. William Wanless. In 1893 he established a clinic in Miraj, India. 106 years later, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian continues to support the Miraj Medical Centre. In addition, the church provides financial assistance to churches and mission workers in health, housing, education, community and economic projects throughout the world, across the United States, and within the Philadelphia region.

The strength of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church lies in its preaching, teaching, music, and ministries to the many groups within the congregation as well as its outreach to the larger community.

Notable Neighbor

Rev. Andrew Mutch and his family aboard the Caledonia enroute to America in 1912. Daughter Ada is on the left.

Dr. Mutch in later years after he became Pastor Emeritus in 1936.

I was born in Scotland in 1905…I was seven when we came over to this country. On April 20, 1912, the week after the Titanic went down, we sailed from Glasgow to come to Bryn Mawr. We soon realized that we had a different accent from the other children…were very sensitive about it at school. I wondered why I used to get called on so often to answer questions. One of the teachers finally told me, “I love to hear you talk.”

We came to live in the manse of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church…the first occupants of the new house. Father (the Rev. Andrew Mutch) had no way of getting around because in Scotland he had his horse and carriage to do his visiting. So he got a Model T. Ford. It was one you had to hand crank and he soon broke his arm because it kicked on him.

In 1918, we had this awful flu epidemic. It was terrible. People were dying right and left. Bryn Mawr Hospital didn’t have enough beds so they decided to take the old Lancaster Inn (it had closed) and turn it into an emergency hospital. My older sister and I went down and volunteered. We scrubbed and got the vegetables ready; at noontime we fed the doctors and nurses lunch; served the tables. In the afternoon the visitors would come and I’d have to get them into gowns and masks. I had to get up on a chair to tie the mask on because they didn’t know how. Then I’d take them up to the floors so they could see the member of their family. My father asked the doctor, “Is there anything we should do or take to keep healthy?” And the doctor said, “No, just be sure you get enough rest, get enough to eat, and wash your hands all the time when you’re doing things.” And not one of our family came down with the flu.

My father and mother were very broad-minded. On Friday night, since there were boarding students (next door at the Baldwin School) and my brother was at Haverford College…these friends came to our house. We had an orchestra of our own. So the manse was jazzed up on Friday night; we rolled up the carpets and danced. But on Saturday night we couldn’t do that because he was getting ready for Sunday. And Sunday was the only day we were restricted in any way…no piano jazz…no ball games.

—Ada Mutch

[Ms. Mutch taught physical education, six of those years at Baldwin. After an appendix operation, she switched to nursing. Ada trained in New York and when World War II came along, went overseas with the Army. She was in charge of nursing at Headquarters Division in France and, after the war, was director of nursing at Lankenau Hospital.]

The magnificent sanctuary (pictured during a 1929 wedding) is not only utilized for worship, it is the site of today’s more modest weddings, memorial services, musical vespers and forums that explore issues of significance for the vitality and well being of the larger community.

Dr. William Wanless (c.1888). Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church supported Dr. Wanless’ missionary work and clinic in Miraj, India; 106 years later the church still supports the Miraj Medical Centre.

One local project is the Tutoring Program, the oldest continuous volunteer program in the school district of Philadelphia. It brings together 120 elementary children from North Philadelphia and 120 high school tutors from Main Line schools. Since 1965 the program has involved approximately 4400 children, 3900 tutors, and over 400 adults. It meets in the church’s Education Building.

—Written by Martha Moore