| Shadyside Presbyterian Church | |
| Location: | Amberson Ave. and Westminster Pl., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Coordinates: | 40.4492°N -79.9392°W |
| Built: | 1890 |
| Architect: | Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge |
| Architecture: | Romanesque, Richardsonian Romanesque |
| Added: | April 03, 1975 |
| Refnum: | 75001613 |
| Designated Other1: | PHLF |
| Designated Other1 Date: | 1971[1] |
The Shadyside Presbyterian Church is a large congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in an historic section of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Located at the corner of Amberson Avenue and Westminster Place in the Shadyside neighborhood of the city of Pittsburgh, the Shadyside Presbyterian Church was founded in 1866 as a congregation in the Presbyterian denomination. It has enjoyed a long history of local, national, and global recognition for its outreach, missions, and music. Distinctively formal, traditional, and liturgical, worship services are often described as "Reformed and Reverential" with nods to the congregation's ancestral heritage in the Church of Scotland. The principal worship service is held at eleven o'clock on Sunday mornings.
The Shadyside Church building, the congregation's third, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a prime example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. It was completed in 1890 to designs of American architectural firm Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, the successor firm to H.H. Richardson's office.[2] The resulting design heavily echoes that of Richardson's Trinity Church in Boston. The interior of the church underwent several alterations during its first fourty-eight years; what is largely seen in the worship space today dates from a major renovation undertaken in 1938. Elements of note include windows by the Gorham Company of New York, Tiffany & Company of New York, and Rudy Brothers of Pittsburgh; intricately carved stone and woodwork throughout, and a prominent Byzantine mosaic by Rudolf Scheffler which fills the chancel apse. The church is built in the Protestant "auditorium-style" popular in the late nineteenth century, a result of stout transepts and a large, central lantern tower which form a Greek cross in plan. The building's dominating pyramidal roof, adorned with four dormers (architecturally referred to as "witches hat"), features prominently in the neighborhood skyline.
First and Second Churches
Built on land gifted by Thomas Aiken, the first Shadyside church was built to Aiken's designs. Work began in 1866 and was completed in 1867. By the early 1870s, the first building proved too small and plans were made for a second, larger building on the same site. Despite an economic depression in 1873, a second church was built to the plans of James H. Windrom of Philadelphia. Ground was broken in 1874 and the new building dedicated in 1875 with the first church building being retained for use as a chapel. With seating for 700 to 800, the second church was "English Decorated Gothic" in style and included a tower with spire which rose 140 feet into the sky.[3]
In the late 1880s, the second building was deemed too small for the growing congregation. Underground seepage of water from springs in the hillside caused some of the walls and tower to be deemed unsafe. On April 8, 1888, the second church was declared unsafe for use and the congregation voted to replace the structure with a new church and chapel, engaging the firm Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge of Boston.[4]
Additions and Renovations
The first addition to the new Shadyside church was its chapel, completed two years after the church in 1892. The gallery and narthex were renovated in 1920 as a memorial to Wallace H. Rowe.[5]
A Parish Hall was added to the northeast side of the church in 1953 to the plans of the Pittsburgh firm of Hoffman and Crumpton. The addition included a gathering hall-gymnasium, stage, classrooms, and kitchen.[6]
An addition known as the "Scharfe Wing" was built in 1981 to the north of the Amberson Avenue entrance. It included restrooms and a large space designated for education. In 2009, the congregation undertook substantial renovations to all spaces except the main sanctuary. The five-phase project included office renovations, enclosing the existing exterior cloister and atrium, and converting the 1953 gathering hall-gymnasium to a formal Parish Hall.
In 2023, after several years of roof leaks and crumbling tiles, the monumental task of replacing the 1890 slate roof was begun, a project which lasted ten months. The replacement roof with lifespan of 75-100 years renews the dark slate of the original roof.
Throughout its long history, the church has been served by a succession of notable preachers, including Hugh Thomson Kerr, Sr., Robert Cleveland Holland, Howard C. Scharfe, and F. Morgan Roberts. In 1916, during his pastorate, Hugh Thomson Kerr, Sr. penned the text for the well-known hymn, "God of Our Life, Through All the Circling Years" set to the tune Sandon. Between 2003 and 2012, the congregation had as its senior pastor M. Craig Barnes, noted author and speaker, and professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, until his election as president of Princeton Theological Seminary. The Rev. John Allan Dalles, a well-known hymn writer, Pittsburgh native, and graduate of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, was the church's Interim Senior Minister and Head of Staff, 2019–2021. The current pastor, the twelfth in the church's history, is the Reverend Austin Crenshaw Shelley.
Senior Pastorates of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church:
It was at Shadyside Church in 1933 that the now global practice of celebrating World Communion Sunday on the first Sunday in October was originated, under the leadership of the Rev. Hugh Thomson Kerr. A commemorative medal was installed in the chancel floor as a memorial to elder C. Stanton Belfour (1906-1969). Shadyside also was the first church anywhere to pioneer regular radio broadcasts of its worship services on KDKA radio and was the first church to broadcast worship services to both the North Pole and to the South Pole.
The music program, under the direction of Dr. Mark A. Anderson, is renowned for its semi-professional Chancel Choir, four-manual Reuter pipe organ, and celebrated concert series, Music in a Great Space. Former directors of music include J. Christopher Pardini, Dr. John Walker, Dr. J. David Hart, and Russell G. Wichmann. Several album recordings are available through the church office.
The Reuter organ, Op. 2175 (1994), occupying the chancel today is the congregation's fifth instrument. Significant tonal and restoration work was completed 2020-2023. Previous instruments include:
Chapel Organs