Andorra Baptist Church

During the Service, Let the LORD talk to you. After the Service, Talk with each other. Alban, Roxborough is a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania in the Roxborough neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1859 as a chapel of ease of St. David's Episcopal Church in Manayunk initially with a dedication to St. Peter. The cornerstone for the church building was laid on September 15, 1860, and the church was consecrated by Bishop William Bacon Stevens on January 14, 1862, as his first official episcopal act, having himself been consecrated to the episcopate six days earlier. Its architect was Alfred Byles, who also designed the Fifth Baptist Church at the corner of Eighteenth and Spring Garden in Philadelphia. During the twentieth century, St. Alban's was nicknamed "Roxborough's Little Church Around the Corner," a reference to the Church of the Transfiguration in New York City as a small and uncharacteristically open parish. The tracker action organ at St. Alban's is Hook & Hastings Opus 1750 from 1897. Several of the church's stained glass windows are by Paula Himmelsbach Balano (1877-1967), a German-American church artist working in a medium uncommon for women at the time of her installations. The sanctuary is designed to accommodate ad orientem celebration. Andorra Baptist Church: The pioneer in the organization of the then Manatawna Baptist Church was The Rev. David Spencer, Pastor of our mother church Roxborough Baptist. Sister Hannah Hagy prevailed upon Rev. Spencer in 1867 to preach at her home and from this a Sunday School was organized July 14, 1867 in Mechanic Hall, Ridge and Manatawna Aves with Joseph V. Peterman as superintendent. The Rev. William S. Crowley was named as a permanent supply pastor. The Manatawna Baptist Church was organized May 14, 1872 with 82 constituent members naming Rev. Crowley the first Pastor. In 1872 Rev. Spencer secured from Alfred Hull a lot for $1,000 for the purpose of erecting a church building. The total cost of the church building and lot was $8,750.23. In 1922 the church celebrated its Golden Anniversary. The Manatawna and Bethlehem Baptist Churches merged together in the year 1950. In 1952 the two churches were renamed Andorra Baptist Church. In 1953 many alterations were made in the church structure. William D. Hartman has served Andorra Baptist as Pastor for 20+ years. In November 2024 Andorra Baptist Church moved to its new location at The Church of St. Alban Episcopal in Roxborough.