Rectory

The Rev. Thomas P. Gaynard, 64, pastor of Mother of Divine Providence Roman Catholic Church in King of Prussia, died of cancer Saturday at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby. His parish of 1,800 families living in single homes on grassy lots was very different from the North Philadelphia neighborhood where he was raised. But Father Gaynard, who grew up in a rowhouse under the El, told his parishioners that the noise in his suburban rectory - abutting the Pennsylvania Turnpike - was louder than that of the trains.

Five years ago, a nationally acclaimed study documented how many urban congregations used their older buildings to provide essential services to their communities. The study found that the oldest and most fragile structures are in the city's poorest neighborhoods and are beyond the means of their congregations to maintain. This study foretold the fate of the rectory at the Church of the Advocate ("Little hope left for idea to renovate a rectory," Jan. 19). Last spring, a few days after the front porch and bay window had collapsed on the sidewalk, the trustees received notice from the city that the rectory was "imminently dangerous" and must be either "demolished or repaired immediately.

For a brief moment, a dream flared in North Philadelphia, and then it crumbled like an old brick wall, as hope of saving the dilapidated rectory of the Episcopal Church of the Advocate faded away yesterday. "Overall, it's in much worse condition than we thought," said Joanne Jackson, executive director of the Advocate Community Development Corp., which wants to renovate the rectory and was awarded a $100,000 state matching grant to do so. Demolition of the building - home to the Rev. Paul Washington, a social activist, for a quarter of a century - began earlier this week at the direction of the church's board of trustees.

The demolition of the rectory building at the historic Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia has been halted amid confusion over whether the building is protected by the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Yesterday, the city Department of Licenses and Inspections returned to the crumbling former home of social activist the Rev. Paul Washington, who retired as rector of the church 15 years ago, and found the building to be in poor condition, city officials said. L&I had granted a demolition permit at the request of the church a little more than a week ago, after citing the rectory as dangerous last year.

The rectory of the historic Episcopal Church of the Advocate in North Philadelphia, where the Rev. Paul Washington presided for a quarter of a century, has been ordered demolished - even though it may be a protected historic structure and grant money is available to preserve it, city officials and preservationists said. As of last night, legal action was being considered to block work on the building and force city officials to review the propriety of the demolition, which has been ordered by the church's board of trustees.

The three-story brick house on South Sycamore Street seems forgotten, tucked in next to a soaring church bell tower, a sprawling cemetery, and a preschool with a new teal paint job. For years, it has been the only old brick building left standing in the Newtown Township's tiny historic district, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Over the last two decades, some of the buildings in the district have had to be torn down. Now the quaint 1884 Victorian house may be the next to go. The owner of the building, St. Andrew's Roman Catholic Church, no longer needs its former rectory and convent.

After they were herded into an upstairs bedroom by an agitated intruder Wednesday night, the Rev. John Killeen and the Rev. Joseph Wallace were both forced to their knees. With their heads down and Father Wallace's wrists tied behind his back, Father Killeen experienced a moment of calm and quiet. "We both thought we were going to be executed," Father Killeen said. "It was just a question of who was going to be first. " The two priests at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church survived and later managed to call the police.

They come from different parts of the county, region and country. Like all newcomers to the region's booming suburbs, the members of the newly created St. Elizabeth Roman Catholic Parish in Upper Uwchlan Township, Chester County, bring with them widely varied secular and religious experiences. They have excitement about building something new and unique, but also regrets about leaving something old and familiar. In the weeks, months and years to come, they must not only build a house of faith, they must build a family of faith.

As an idealistic, young Catholic seminarian 25 years ago, Msgr. Thomas M. Mullin was imbued with the desire to spread faith's help and comfort to others. He never dreamed that someday he'd be getting up at dawn to bless a new supermarket. But that's exactly what the pastor of a newly created Chester County parish was doing one morning last week. Blessing the opening of the Genuardi's market in Lionville was one of countless tasks - momentous and mundane - Msgr. Mullin will have to tackle as he labors to turn an empty 36-acre Upper Uwchlan Township field into the brick, mortar, heart and soul of St. Elizabeth Parish.

Not too long ago, it would have been just a little country church on a little country lane. A testament to the faith of the fathers - and the mothers - to be sure. Otherwise, a new Catholic parish in Chester County would have been a matter of little concern. But when the Archdiocese of Philadelphia recently announced it was creating a parish in the Route 100 corridor, near the Downingtown interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, it was big news. That's because the newly created St. Elizabeth Parish is a reflection of the big changes that have occurred in a county where about one in four residents is Catholic.