Church history

Pilgrim Church reaches back to the early 1980’s as a Presbyterian congregation in the Manayunk neighborhood, but the story begins much earlier.

As early as 1827, the predecessor congregation of Pilgrim was known as the Reformed Dutch Church of Manayunk – a local church of the Reformed Church in America (RCA). Through name changes and the planting of a daughter congregation also in Roxborough, this resulted in two RCA congregations – Fourth Reformed Church and Talmage Memorial Reformed Church – in the wider Roxborough community until they reunited as a single congregation, Talmage Memorial Fourth Reformed Church, in 1969. Within a few years, it was the only remaining RCA congregation in the city limits of Philadelphia although in earlier times there were a dozen. Another noteworthy contribution to church life in the vicinity was the original Manayunk congregation’s part in planting the Reformed Dutch Church in Roxborough that later affiliated with the Presbyterian (Old School) denomination and continues today as Roxborough Church.

During the late 1970’s, members of the Talmage Fourth congregation were growing concerned with the state of the RCA denomination, which was reflective of theological changes in many mainline Protestant denominations at the time. Thankfully, the consistory (elders) and the pastor at the time, Rev. Barry Traver, courageously led the congregation to secure a theologically stable future for the congregation with adherence to the Reformed Faith, but the only terms by which the classis, the synod and ultimately even the General Assembly would approve a denominational realignment for Talmage Memorial Fourth was for the congregation to surrender its church property – including the building, annex, parsonage and parking lot. While this was a time of difficulty and sacrifice, the remaining congregation was unified and happy to join the more theologically conservative Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) in 1984 and took the name Pilgrim at this time. Pastor Traver moved his own ordination into the OPC and continued in the congregation during a transition period with an interim pastor while the church began meeting in the basement of a local Korean-American congregation on Terrace Street. In 1985, Pilgrim Church acquired the building of the old Wissahickon Baptist Church on Terrance Street which is the location of Pilgrim Church up to the present day.

Faithful pastors such as Robert Minnig, Bill Krispin and Ed Gross all had a part in giving stability to Pilgrim as a church on Terrace Street while prioritizing outreach and evangelism in the neighborhood as part of a spiritually thriving congregational ministry. During the time of Ed Gross, the congregation joined the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) and was deeply involved in CityNet Ministries around the city of Philadelphia – Bill Krispin being the ministry’s executive director at the time. Pastor Erik Larsen was called in 2010 and further developed the Pilgrim congregational life with a focus on ministering to the immediate neighborhood and Roxborough community throughout his tenure as pastor.

Pilgrim Church continues today as a community of God’s people in the Reformed tradition bringing Christian witness to Manayunk, Wissahickon and Roxborough for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the city of Philadelphia.