The information below was extracted from:

 

Historical Directory of Presbyterian Churches and Presbyteries of Greater Philadelphia Related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Its Antecedents 1690-1990. By Kenneth A. Hammonds. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Historical Society, 1993.

 

These churches represent all the Presbyterian Churches that were located within the historical boundaries of Kensington, its quite possible that a person lived within the Kensington boundaries and attended a church outside the area, as the Presbyterian Churches do not have parish boundaries.

 

 

Pages 69-94:

 

NORTH CENTRAL PHILADELPHIA CHURCHES

 

 

1813, Northern Liberties, First

 

[While not located in Kensington, a number of families who were later at First Presbyterian Church of Kensington were members of this church before Kensington was founded.]

 

Members of the 1743, Second Church purchased land, built a chapel and began a mission at Campington in the Northern Liberties, just north of Vine Street, in 1773. The First Presbytery of Philadelphia applauded this outreach and agreed to provide ministers to lead worship from week to week. At the same time it wisely shied away from making any promises about the future relationship of the mission and Second Church. In 1786, the pastor of Second Church proposed to the Presbytery that the Campington mission be organized in a collegiate relationship to Second, until it repaid Second the cost of the site and building, and was self-sustaining. The Presbytery balked at this arrangement as setting too heavy a financial burden on a new congregation, one that might cause it to fail. The Second Church officers reacted strongly against the Presbytery's "interference" in the matter as "improper and dangerous," and registered their determination not "to consent to, or approve of the (Presbytery's) sentiments expressed on this subject." Twenty-seven years passed before the Presbytery organized the congregation as The First Presbyterian Church in the Northern Liberties in April, 1813, free of any ties or obligations to Second Church. The church was located at Second Street and Fairmount Avenue. There, in 1815, "was organized the first Sunday school in Philadelphia devoted exclusively to the gratuitous teaching of the Bible." Within a few years, members of the church organized five more Sunday schools in Northern Liberties. Three churches owed their origin to this congregation: Northern Liberties, Second [2], 1825; Northern Liberties, Third, 1831; and West Kensington, 1832. In 1833, the congregation relocated at Buttonwood Street below Sixth in the first church building erected in that neighborhood.

 

The movement of members from the Northern Liberties area weakened the church by 1900. In 1908, the church officers deeded the building to the Trustees of the Presbytery for use by the First Magyar (Hungarian) Church. The diminished First congregation continued to worship there, but in 1915 there were so few left that the Presbytery voted to dissolve the church, sell the building and establish a First Church in Northern Liberties endowment fund for city missions. The dissolution took effect on June 30, 1917.

 

 

1814, Kensington, First; 1867, Bethesda; 1872, George Chandler Mission/ George Chandler; 1881, Cumberland Street/Chandler Memorial/Beacon

 

Sometime in 1812 a Welsh pastor named Jenkins, began Wednesday evening meetings in his home in Fishtown, the nickname given to Kensington in colonial days because many of its residents were fishermen by trade. With the help of the Evangelical Society of Philadelphia, Sunday afternoon and evening services were added. As the number of worshipers increased, the group moved into a schoolhouse on Queen (Richmond) Street. A lot was purchased on Palmer Street and a church was erected there for the growing congregation in 1813. The Presbytery of Philadelphia organized the group as The First Presbyterian Church in Kensington in March, 1814. The congregation dedicated its present building on Girard Avenue at Hanover Street in 1859, shortly before the death of George Chandler, its pastor from 1815 to 1860. , At its April, 1865 meeting the Fourth Presbytery of Philadelphia adopted resolution calling on the First Church· of Kensington to consider "forming a new organization or establishing a colony at some suitable place" in light of its membership of 1,100. In December, 1867, W. T. Eva, resigned as pastor, and with 182 members colonized the Bethesda Presbyterian Church in a meeting hall about a mile away. After several months, the congregation purchased a lot at Frankford Avenue and Vienna Street and erected its building there. The church flourished at this location until 1910, reaching a high in membership of 645 in 1900. After 1910, the membership declined as members moved out and were replaced by newcomers who were not Presbyterian in background. This decline continued for the next 40 years to 131 members and 58 church school pupils in 1950.

 

A proposed merger with the Westminster Mayfair Church in 1953 failed because a large minority in that church voted against it. Bethesda continued to seek a merger partner and found one in the newly organized Gethesemane Presbyterian Church, at Red Lion and Verree Roads in Northeast Philadelphia. The Presbytery of Philadelphia approved the merger in 1954, continuing the Bethesda name at the Gethsemane site [see Chapter Eight, 1953, Gethsemane;1867/1954, Bethesda].

 

Another colony of members from the Kensington, First established the George Chandler Mission Presbyterian Church, at Cumberland and Cedar Streets, on April 21, 1872. The church's name honored the memory of Kensington's first pastor. "Mission" was dropped from the name in 1874. Shortening the name did not improve the congregation's ability to attract new members to its worship and fellowship. In 1878, Central Presbytery [2] cited the church to appear and show cause why it should not be dissolved. After further review, the Presbytery dissolved the church in January, 1879.

 

Kensington, First established another mission at Cumberland and Cedar Streets, that Central Presbytery [2] organized on June 13, 1881, as the Cumberland Street Presbyterian Church. Early in 1883 the name was changed to George Chandler Memorial Presbyterian Church. Once again the name of the revered former pastor of Kensington, First did not attract new members to the church. Presbyterian ministry at this location finally took hold in 1885, when James H. Marr and Francis L. Robbins became co-pastors, and the church's name was changed to Beacon Presbyterian Church. Marr and Robbins inspired the congregation to erect a new church building, and behind it the Chandler Memorial Building for educational and other activities. Then they organized and led a varied program to serve the social, physical and educational needs of the community, in addition to worship services and Sunday school. The Beacon Institute, sometimes called a college, had 21 teachers on its staff, and the Beacon Dispensary, staffed by local physicians, treated thousands of cases every year. This institutional ministry continued until community hospitals and colleges replaced it.

 

In 1955, Hurricane Hazel so damaged the church building that it had to be torn down. Worship, Sunday school, and other church activities were moved to the Chandler Memorial Building. This disaster proved to be a blessing, for it left the small congregation with a manageable building for its activities. Beacon was one of four founding churches of the Kensington Parish in 1973

 

 

1818, Cohocksink, First; 1840, Cohocksink

 

The Presbytery of Philadelphia organized the First Presbyterian Church of Cohocksink in December, 1818. Apart from mention in lists of churches whose records were to be reviewed, nothing appears in the minutes about the ministry or street location of this congregation. It no longer appeared in Presbytery records after 1827, nor is there any mention of its involvement in a merger, relocation or transfer, or of its dissolution. It is possible that the congregation disbanded without formal Presbytery action, and members united with nearby churches of their choice.

 

The record is clearer concerning the Cohocksink Presbyterian Church. It was organized in that village north of Center City in 1840, from a mission started by members of the 1832, Central Church, in the Cohocksink Mechanics' Institute building. The church built its first building on the opposite side of the Institute's lot at Germantown Road and Chatham (later Berks) Street, and worshiped there until 1867, when it relocated at Franklin Street and Columbia Avenue. Members of the church's Gaston Memorial Missionary Society (named in honor of Daniel Gaston, Cohocksink's pastor from 1845-1865), organized the Second Street Mission on Second Street above Berks. Another mission sponsored by this Society became the Gaston Presbyterian Church in 1876, at Eleventh and Cumberland Streets.

 

In 1890, Cohocksink was one of the large churches in North Central Philadelphia, reporting 696 members, and 544 pupils in its Sunday school. Ten years later it had lost half of its membership, and continued to decline for the next 15 years. As members moved away because of racial change in the community, leadership and financial resources dwindled, and internal strife further weakened the congregation. In 1915 the church asked the Presbytery of Philadelphia to dissolve it. The congregation's lingering resentment toward those they blamed for bringing its fellowship and ministry to an end found expression in this provision of its petition: "We favor and support the transfer. . .

of the property. . . to the Trustees of Presbytery, the church building to be sold by them. . . (but not to a colored church or organization)." Proceeds from the sale of the property were placed in a Cohocksink Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund, with income designated for the support of needy Presbyterian churches and missions in Philadelphia.

 

 

1832, West Kensington

 

The Second Presbytery of Philadelphia [3], organized by the General Assembly in 1832, received the West Kensington Presbyterian Church under its care in October, 1832, noting that it had been organized by the pastor of the First Church in the Northern Liberties. This church was also known as Kensington, Second. The last reference to it in the Presbytery minutes is in a list of churches to be visited in 1835. After 1838 it was no longer reported on the roll of the Third [1] Presbytery, and there is no record of its transfer, relocation, merger or dissolution.

 

 

1837, Associate, Second/Third United

 

A committee from the First Associate Congregation petitioned the Associate Presbytery of Philadelphia in May, 1837 to organize a Second Associate Congregation on Franklin Street near Green. The group worshiped there until 1852, when it built a new church on Front Street above Jefferson. In the merger of the Associate and Associate Reformed Churches in 1358 its name was changed to Third United Presbyterian Church. The high point of the church's ministry was in 1890, when membership reached 307 and the Sabbath school had 380 enrolled. Thereafter membership and church school enrollment declined steadily, until there were only 80 members and 44 pupils in 1950. At the congregation's request the UPNA Presbytery of Philadelphia disorganized the church in October, 1953

 

 

1844, Third Associate Reformed [I]/Fourth Associate Reformed; 1853, Kensington, First Secessionist/Kensington; 1849, Fifth Reformed/York Street; 1892, Union Tabernacle

 

When the Associate Reformed Presbytery of Philadelphia was organized by the Associate Reformed Synod of New York in 1845, one of its first actions was to depose the pastor of the Third Associate Reformed Church. In protest, the congregation withdrew, and applied to the PC USA Presbytery of Philadelphia to be received under its care. The Presbytery declined the petition because it included a request for the reception of the deposed pastor. For the next six years the congregation continued to worship as an independent church on Frankford Road above Franklin Street (sometimes listed as Frankford and Girard). The Associate Reformed Presbytery of Philadelphia reinstated the church and received its new pastor, in May, 1851. Since another congregation had taken the Third Associate name by that time, the returning church was called the Fourth Associate Reformed Church.

 

This new association was short-lived. In January, 1853 the Presbytery of Philadelphia, PCUSA received the pastor and most of the members of this church as the First Secessionist Presbyterian Church in Kensington. The name recalled the church's roots in the Associate Church in Scotland, whose members were called "seceders." Later the congregation dropped "First Secessionist" from its name and was known as Kensington.

 

The Reformed Presbytery of Philadelphia organized the Fifth Reformed Presbyterian Church at York and Coral Streets in July, 1849. The majority of the members voted to withdraw from the Reformed Presbyterian Church in 1868 in the dispute about matters of union and church discipline, and continued as an independent congregation until 1881. That year the Central Presbytery [2] received the church under its care and reorganized it as the York Street Presbyterian Church.

 

The Presbytery of Philadelphia merged the Kensington and York Street churches in 1892 at York and Coral Streets, as the Union Tabernacle Presbyterian Church. The united congregation flourished for the next 30 years, but after World War I membership began to decline. In 1974, the roof of the church collapsed. Instead of attempting a costly repair, the congregation merged with the nearby Cumberland Street United Methodist Church at Cumberland and Coral Streets, as the Union Tabernacle Presbyterian Church. The session reported 113 members and 58 in the church school in 1990.

 

 

1860, Ninth United/Norris Square United

 

The Session of the Third United Presbyterian Church sponsored a Sabbath school in 1858, and moved it into a small building at Second Street above Norris the following year. In 1860, the UPNA Presbytery of Philadelphia organized the Ninth United Presbyterian Church at this site. Seven years later work began on a church building at Hancock Street and Susquehanna Avenue, with the pastor and members of the church assisting in the construction. In October, 1868, the first floor was completed, and the congregation began to worship there. For several years the building was used during the week as a public school. The rental income helped to finance the completion of the church by April, 1873. Its location at the northwest corner of Norris Square in Kensington led to a change of name in 1898, when it became officially the Norris Square United Presbyterian Church.

 

Norris Square's outreach peaked in the period from 1910 to 1920, when membership reached 663, and there were 664 in the Sabbath school. The decline that followed was gradual, and the church still reported 532 members and 255 church school pupils in 1960. Then the movement of Hispanic families into the neighborhood changed it significantly.

 

In the mid-1960s the church began an outreach to these Hispanics from Puerto Rico. This ministry was made possible initially by funds contributed by the suburban Huntingdon Valley congregation. The ministry progressed from two separate congregations, one worshiping in English and the other in Spanish, to an inclusive congregation for both groups. The congregation was small, however, with 72 members and 64 pupils in the church school in 1990.

 

 

1861, Trinity

 

In 1859, the Presbytery of Philadelphia responded to a request from residents on Frankford Avenue in Kensington for a mission in that area. Worship services began in a house on Franklin Cemetery Avenue, and a Sunday school was established. Less than a year later, the Presbytery appointed a committee to organize this mission as a congregation. That assignment was carried out by a similar committee of the new Central [1] Presbytery, organized by the Synod of Philadelphia in 1860 to oversee this area. Trinity Presbyterian Church was established at Frankford and Cambria Streets in May, 1861. After a modest beginning, its ministry flourished there from 1900 to 1940. In 1910 both membership and Sunday school enrollment reached 900. Thereafter these figures went down slowly, and, after World War II, more rapidly as members moved out of Kensington. Trinity united with the Kensington Parish as its membership and financial resources declined. The session reported 47 members and 23 in the church school in 1990.

 

 

1875, Lehigh Avenue [1]; 1877, Lehigh Avenue [2]/Susquehanna Avenue

 

In response to a petition from people living in the neighborhood of Sixth and Cumberland Streets, in September, 1874, Central Presbytery [2] sent a committee to visit the area and organize a church if the way was clear. The committee's work dragged out for a year before the Lehigh Avenue Presbyterian Church [1] was organized at Lehigh Avenue east of Sixth Street. Less than a year later, the Presbytery dissolved the church.

 

In 1877, a dissident group in the newly organized Gaston Church withdrew and asked the Presbytery to organize them as Lehigh Avenue Presbyterian Church [2] at the dissolved congregation's site. At first, this group also encountered difficulties getting established. For a brief time they changed the church name to Hodge Memorial, and moved into a small room in a factory. Then, in 1882, they moved to a new location at Marshall Street and Susquehanna Avenue, and changed the church name to Susquehanna Avenue Presbyterian Church. There they entered upon a successful ministry for the next 40 years, reaching a membership of 801 in 1910 and holding at that level through 1920.

 

After World War I, racial change in the area and the depression led to the church's demise. By 1937, the congregation was heavily in debt and unable to raise funds to maintain the building or to secure pastoral leadership. The Presbytery dissolved the church in April, 1937, and sold the property. The $6,000.00 remaining after payment of the church's debts, created the Susquehanna Avenue Memorial Fund, with interest to be used for city mission work.

 

 

1876, Gaston

 

The Gaston Memorial Missionary Society of the 1840, Cohocksink Church, made up of young men in that congregation, began a Sunday school and preaching station in a house at Eleventh and Cumberland Streets in December, 1875. This mission was organized by Central Presbytery [2] on June 26, 1876, as the Gaston Presbyterian Church. Its 49 charter members included 37 from the Cohocksink Church. The new congregation's name honored the memory of Daniel Gaston, pastor of the Cohocksink Church from 1845 to 1865.

 

The church began its ministry in a frame building at Germantown Avenue and Huntingdon Street, and relocated at the corner of Eleventh Street and Lehigh Avenue in 1882. The congregation prospered at this location for many years, reaching a membership of 1,875 in 1920, when it also reported 1,401 pupils in the Sunday school. By 1940, membership and Sunday school enrollment were only half of the 1920 figures, and continued to decline for the next 29 years. As the racial makeup of the community changed, members moved away, and the church was not able to replace them. In 1969, the congregation requested dissolution.