Our History

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church evolved out of perceived potential and expressed interest in a Lutheran ministry in the then-new and rapidly growing community of West Oak Lane in Philadelphia, PA. Worship and planning started in September 1929, and on February 9, 1930, thirty-five persons officially organized themselves as St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in a storeroom at 7609 Ogontz Avenue.

The congregation faced several early obstacles and birthing pains. Some persons did not want a Lutheran congregation in the community, and neighbors near the storeroom location complained that the congregation’s singing disturbed their sleep on Sunday mornings.  The Lutheran minister who was elected to be the first pastor of the congregation in 1930 declined the call. And, in the midst of the economic crisis that affected the entire nation, the Northwestern Trust Company collapsed, taking with it all of the financial resources of the congregation.

But St. Peter’s continued. The Rev. Clarence W. Rhoda, who had helped as a seminary student to organize St. Peter’s, was called as its first pastor in June 1931 and served until November 1945. Under his leadership, St. Peter’s moved from its storeroom location on Ogontz Avenue to a larger storeroom next door, and then to its present site at 74th Avenue and Briar Road. A smaller, temporary chapel was erected there in 1933 (the congregation had outbid a chicken farmer for the old frame school building), and the present church sanctuary was built in 1940. By that time, the congregation had grown from a few dozen members to about nine hundred.

The Rev. G. Edward Knapp, a son of the congregation, was called St. Peter’s second pastor in September 1946 and served until June 1979. During his ministry, St. Peter’s added the three-story parish building in 1956 and grew to almost twelve hundred members by 1959.  In the 1960s, as more African-Americans moved into West Oak Lane, Pastor Knapp was a strong proponent of having the congregation be inclusive in its hospitality and was an active evangelist to new residents. In 1964 the Church Council passed a resolution stating that it would welcome as neighbors and as potential church members any and all persons, regardless of race, religion, or national origin.  Thanks to the strong and faithful leadership of Pastor Knapp and the church’s core membership, both of which provided the foundation for a successful transition in St. Peter’s ministry and congregational makeup, St. Peter’s was known and respected as a place of warmth and true hospitality, while other white Protestant congregations resisted change, faltered, and even collapsed.

The third pastor to be called to St. Peter’s was the Rev. Mark S. Livermore, who served from July 1979 until September 1988. When he started his ministry, St. Peter’s congregation was 70% white while the surrounding neighborhood was 80% African-American. Under Pastor Livermore’s leadership, the congregation continued a transition in its membership and ministry until it more closely reflected the West Oak Lane community. This transition included the organization of a Gospel Choir, the use of hymns and songs from African-American tradition, increasingly representative lay leadership, and continued strong evangelism.

In June 1989, the Revs. Gwendolyn Johnson-Bond and Neil A. Bond were called to serve as pastors, bringing with them ten years of experience in urban ministry. An African American woman who grew up in the projects in the Bronx, New York, and a white man who grew up in a rural country and a small borough near Reading, PA, Pastor Gwen, and Pastor Neil have now continued to serve at St. Peter’s beyond 30 years. Under their leadership, the congregation has continued to develop in its worship life, its fellowship, and its service. Outreach giving includes annual benevolence to our ELCA denomination, quarterly ELCA World Hunger offerings, quarterly Lutheran Charities offerings, quarterly mission offerings to designated local and worldwide causes, as well as response to other needs and support of other causes.

New or renewed ministries over the past three decades include or have included Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts; dynamic Youth and Adult Choirs, Sunday and Vacation Bible Schools; Afterschool and Summer Day Camp Programs; Kid’s Club and Youth Group programs; Youth overnight summer camp attendance at Bear Creek Camp, the Lutheran camp ministry in the Pocono Mountains; attendance every three years at the ELCA National Youth Gathering with thousands of other Lutheran youth; a FoodShare outreach, a Senior Food Box program, and a Whole Foods fresh produce distribution; Lenten and Easter Soup and Study devotions; regular Bible Study and Prayer Group opportunities; Senior Ministry activities and trips; Women’s Ministry and Men’s Ministry groups; and other special events and worship services dedicated to the congregation’s youth, mothers and daughters, and fathers and sons.

In addition, St. Peter’s has hosted a number of groups and events in the past three decades, including Christian Family Academy; Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corporation; Youth Build Charter School; Philadelphia School District Parent Co-op Nursery; A.A. and Al-Anon groups; district Girl Scout leaders; Joy Unlimited Youth Mass Choir; an African martial arts program and another martial arts program;  three South African choir tours; Friends of SOMAFCO, an organization born out of the South African struggle against apartheid; PhilaDanco, Brenda Lee Dance Studio, the Agape Liturgical Dancers, a dance aerobics group, and a newly formed Unstoppable Movements dance group; African Drumming; Esteem Girls S.T.E.M. program; annual community Spelling Bee co-sponsored with the West Oak Lane Branch Library; The congregation also opened its doors to house administrative offices of Lutheran Children and Family Services of Eastern Pennsylvania for ten years.

St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, in the northwest region of Philadelphia, is an African American urban congregation that is being shaped by the good news of Jesus Christ crucified and now risen among us. It is a faith community in which to be loved and forgiven, to learn and grow and change, and to offer one’s God-given gifts and abilities in loving service to others.