Originally founded in 1819 the East Liberty Presbyterian Church (ELPC) is a long lived Pittsburgh institution. ELPC has grown enough since then that they have continued to expand and are currently residing in their 5th building on the site. The newest building was dedicated in 1935. It is an absolutely stunning cathedral style building that takes up an entire city block and was designed by Ralph Adams Cram, a renowned Gothic Revival architect who called it his “magnum opus.” Richard Beatty Mellon and his wife Jennie King Mellon, members of the one of Pittsburgh’s most elite banking families, funded the construction. When originally built, the ELPC cost around four million dollars. Remember this was during the Great Depression. In today’s money, adjusted for inflation, that comes out to around 88 million dollars. With dozens of huge, beautiful, and intricate stained-glass windows, ceilings that are at points 75 feet high, and incredibly intricate stonework and carvings, the building is absolutely stunning. However, the true beauty of ELPC comes from its mission and its congregation.
During my initial research into the ELPC one thing jumped out at me. The ELPC is a Christian church housed in a very beautiful but also very traditional style building but they seemed to be extremely inclusive. If you visit the ELPC website one of the first things you’ll see is their mission statement at the top of the page. It reads, “a diverse community of believers extending Christ’s radical hospitality to all.” Just below that there is section titled “inclusive opportunities to get involved.” It goes on saying “We invite all to join with us in our diverse, inclusive family of faith. Our commitment is to work, worship, and pray in ways that transcend boundaries of race, class, ability, culture, age, gender and sexual identity.” This is fantastic I think to myself, however words are easy, actions are hard.
During our group tour of the ELPC, Dr. Tom Morton, faculty in Pitt’s History of Art and Architecture Department, emphasizes how inclusive the ELPC is, and it seems to show. In the main sanctuary there are LGBTQ pride banners hanging from the upper balcony. In the entrance there are signs by the bathrooms welcoming gender diversity and inviting parishioners to use whichever bathroom they feel best fits their gender identity. I personally do not have the greatest background with religion. I have always somewhat stood out and have typically not been very welcomed in church settings. I had to see this for myself so I decided to attend a service.
On April 2nd, 2023, Palm Sunday, I attended a service at ELPC and was pleasantly surprised by what I found. After eating breakfast and having some coffee I got ready for the service. At this time, I had long black and neon red hair, 7 facial piercings, and typically looked more like those usually shunned from churches. When I arrived though everyone was very warm and welcoming. There is an older gentleman at the entrance sitting at a desk that welcomes me inside, no condescension, no assuming I was lost, no assuming I didn’t know where I was going. I start towards the sanctuary, and I am greeted again this time by a very nice older lady who is very warm and inviting. She gave me a program and a fresh palm frond so I could take part in the services. I was about 15 minutes early and most of the pews were empty at this point so I found one near the center and sat next to the center aisle. As people trickle in, I start to see the true diversity of the ELPC community. There are equal amounts of young and old, as well as white and African American parishioners, there are a few Middle Eastern and Asian parishioners, and both families and single people. As the service nears its start I notice in the basket of the pew in front of me a yellow piece of paper with a rainbow ribbon pinned to it. I picked it up and it is a “solidarity pledge”. Some of the pledges includes “civil rights are not special rights,” “words hurt and bigotry is not funny” “violent speech leads to violent behavior” and “violence against any person is violence against all people.” These pins and papers are in every pew that I can see from my seat.
The service itself is very typical of what I’ve seen before except a few key things make it stand out as truly special. First of all, the service is mostly conducted by women of color. In the course of the service 5 different people take the pulpit for different readings, prayers, or sermons. The 5 people include the main Reverend Patrice L. Fowler-Searcy, Hannah Moon, Kevin Lee, Reverend Heather Schonewolf, and Sara Hackett, as well as a very diverse choir. Everything about my experiences with ELPC tells me that they are not taking the easy way and just saying nice things. They are doing the hard work and being as inclusive as they possibly can be. I think that makes them truly special and makes the congregation even more beautiful than the building they worship in. The ELPC is a fantastic part of the greater Pittsburgh community and we should all strive to be as open and accepting as they are.