The Experience
Gloria Dei is an active Episcopal parish filled with reminders of its Swedish founders, who settled here before William Penn. It is easy to imagine the past here, in its park-like setting between the bustle of Columbus Boulevard and quiet residential streets. Miniature wooden replicas of ships that carried Swedish settlers in 1643 are suspended from the church ceiling, along with a carving of the angel Gabriel. The baptismal font dates from Gloria Dei’s predecessor, a log church built in 1677 in Tinicum.
Among those buried in the adjacent cemetery are sea captains and Revolutionary War soldiers. A granite memorial honors John Hanson, the first president of the U.S. Articles of Confederation, and other community leaders of Swedish descent. Swedish and Norwegian congregations use the church regularly.
History
Gloria Dei was built between 1698 and 1700 to serve a parish of Swedish settlers who lived along the banks of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers. In 1845, it joined the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. The interior was renovated, and balconies were added. In 1942, Gloria Dei was named a National Historic Site.