“Jesus Christ, Superstar, do you think you’re what they say you are?”

Dear People of Gloria Dei,

I finally got to see our annual tribute to Jesus Christ Superstar for the first time this year (after being sick on the date each of the past two years!). The show was a lot of fun, and the music has continued to run through my head over the past few weeks. In reflecting on the show, I am struck by how many different claims there are about who Jesus was (and is!), and about what his life and death mean for us today. As we see in the show, and in the world around us today, there are a lot of people who try to use Jesus to justify their hate and their desire for power.  

Thankfully, we don’t have to be afraid of asking questions about Jesus. I love that the first Sunday after Easter always commemorates the disciple Thomas, who wasn’t afraid to ask questions and express doubts when the other disciples claimed to have seen Jesus risen from the dead. If Thomas is allowed to have questions and doubts, even when he had been told in advance that Jesus would die and rise again, then we are allowed to have questions and doubts as well.

I’ve spent years asking questions about Jesus, especially when presented with claims about him that don’t seem to line up with the gracious and loving portrait we see of him in the Gospels. I am grateful for the friends and mentors – as well as the historians and theologians – who have helped me make sense of competing claims about Jesus and to come to my own conclusions (if you’re looking for a good read, I especially recommend Surprised by Hope, by N.T. Wright, which makes compelling arguments for the historicity of the resurrection). Especially during this Easter season, I hope that you will have the courage to ask your own questions, and that our community can draw ever closer to the reality of Jesus’ grace and love.

In hope of the resurrection,

Rev. Chris

Workers Over Billionaires!
Join with members of our congregation and many others to launch a campaign on affordability. Led by POWER Interfaith, Labor Unions, and other community organizations, we will be advocating for a vision and policies that support regular, working people in affording housing and other basic necessities. Learn more at POWER Interfaith's website. 

We will gather in Riverside Hall after the Sunday service for our Annual Meeting, beginning with a meal. This is an opportunity to review the Annual Report and to discuss the current state of the church. New Vestry Members will be approved, the budget will be examined, and there will be plenty of time for questions and answers. 

Parishioners are welcome to bring contributions to the community meal (we already have a big lasagna, a salad, and a pasta salad arranged), or to just show up hungry. The annual report can be downloaded on our website, and paper copies will be available at the meeting (or by contacting the church office). 

Filament presents “Bach and the Art of Flourishing” in concert.
The trio includes Evan Few on violin, Elena Kauffman on viola da gamba and John Walthausen on harpsichord, playing at the oldest church in Pennsylvania … and one of their favorite venues. 
Over the course of their first seven years together, Filament has built a reputation for distinctive programming and engaging performances, establishing the trio as a leading presence in Philadelphia’s thriving early music community and a nexus for connection and collaboration. Their new program, “Bach and the Art of Flourishing,” celebrates the gorgeous, intricate, and intriguing music of J.S. Bach, featuring sonatas for violin and viola da gamba, as well as works for solo harpsichord, spotlighting each of the three instruments that make the Filament trio unique.

Admission is $30 for adults and $15 for students with I.D. It includes a drink ticket for a beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). Advance registration is highly recommended.

Meet-and-Mingle afterward at Riverside Hall

This concert will take place inside the church sanctuary, followed by a reception in nearby Riverside Hall. For a modest donation, you can treat yourself to delicious gourmet desserts there … and pair them with wine, coffee or tea while you chat with the performers. 

Filament is hosted by the Historic Gloria Dei Preservation Corporation. Some proceeds from this event will go toward the preservation of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church and its graveyard. 

Bring a fellow music-lover and share beautiful music in a spectacular, historic setting.

Every Monday at 9:00am, Christine Pickup leads us together in prayer. Praying together points us to Jesus. In Matthew, Jesus reminds us of the power of community prayer: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Are you interested in brainstorming, discussing, planning and participating in Gloria Dei missions?  We meet on the first Wednesday of every month at 9:00am on Zoom.
(Meeting ID: 831 8432 8558   Passcode: 683663, or use the link below).  
Join Zoom Meeting: Click here to join the Zoom.

Current Outreach Efforts - 

• New Meal Ministry with St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church 
  Starting in February, we will be cooking and delivering a meal to the community at St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church in North Philadelphia (Feltonville). We plan to cook the meal in Riverside Hall on Wednesday, June 3, at 6:30 pm in Riverside Hall. 
• Collecting Donations for the Food Pantry
  at Snyder Avenue Congregational Church, which serves many local immigrant and refugee families. Donation basket available in the back of the church.

In the coming months, we are also looking forward to further collaboration with POWER Interfaith (more details later in this newsletter!), and with the Clare Project (stay tuned!). If you have any questions, ideas, or want to get more invovled, please contact Jill Duink (jillddd@hotmail.com) or Rev. Chris (rector@old-swedes.org). 

Over the past few months, Rev. Chris and our Missions Committee have been getting to know POWER Interfaith, an organization that collaborates with churches throughout the Philadelphia region to build political power and to advocate for a better world. POWER is currently working to implement an agenda based on afforable housing and afforability. 

Gloria Dei has the opportunity to host the May meeting of the Center City cluster of churches affiliated with POWER. Join us to learn more about the ongoing work and how you might get involved in advocating and organizing for a more affordable future for regular Philadelphians. Please RSVP to Rev. Chris if you are hoping to attend. 

Gloria Dei will be hosting a preliminary budget meeting for our diocese. Join us to learn more about the proposed budget for the diocese for 2027, with diocesan staff presenting and taking questions. This meeting is open to the public. Learn more about the diocesan budgeting process on their website. 

Walk the streets of Old City Philadelphia, where revolution, faith, finance, and learning converged in the pivotal years around 1776. Beginning in the State House Yard—the heart of the movement for independence—the tour traces the city’s transformation from colonial capital to the political center of a new nation. 
Along the way, explore the institutions that shaped that world: Philosophical and Library Halls, the early campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Carpenters’ Hall, and the first banks that financed both war and peace. The walk also highlights the city’s varied religious life—St. Mary’s and its 1781 Te Deum for Yorktown, the Arch Street Meeting House, and the site of Zion Lutheran Church, where Philadelphians gathered for George Washington’s memorial service in 1799.
The tour concludes at Christ Church, parish home to many of Philadelphia’s founders and the site of the famed bells hidden during the British occupation—a story closely tied to Gloria Dei itself.
This tour is sponsored by Preserve Old Swedes, the non-profit organization that preserves and interprets Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church. 100% of the proceeds will go toward the preservation of this national historic site.

Please note: Last Musical Meditation before the summer hiatus is May 19th.

Join us for a refreshed version of our popular service.  Keep an eye out for some interesting guest guitarists, a drum circle, poems, and discussions that we hope will inspire you throughout the rest of the week. The program is led by our sextons, Jim & Paula Minacci, who work to create a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere that everyone will enjoy. 

Rooted in Philadelphia’s vibrant 18th—century Parlor Music tradition, the program envisions an intimate house concert at Benjamin Franklin’s estate in the Fall of 1785, celebrating his return after a transformative decade in Paris. The gathering gave Franklin a welcome break from politics, a chance to reconnect with his Philadelphia friends while sharing European musical trends he encountered in France, and a vivid sense of the cultural exchange that helped shape the young America’s identity. The program features Boccherini, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Gossec, Rigel, and Pleyel. Many of these composers were not only admired by Franklin but personally known to him through the dazzling Parisian salons of his friend Madame Brillon. These salons were luminous gatherings where music and conversation intertwined, giving life to the spirit of the Enlightenment.

This event is hosted by the Historic Gloria Dei Preservation Corporation. Admission is $30 for adults and $15 for students with I.D. It includes a drink ticket for a beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). Advance registration is highly recommended.
Meet-and-Mingle afterward at Riverside Hall
This concert will take place inside the church sanctuary, followed by a reception in nearby Riverside Hall. For a modest donation, you can treat yourself to delicious gourmet desserts there … and pair them with wine, coffee or tea while you chat with the performers. 
About the Franklin Quartet
The Franklin Quartet, named for Age of Enlightenment polymath Benjamin Franklin, performs music from the dawn of the string quartet on period instruments. They bring a spirit of invention, exploration and extensive research to their presentation of early string quartet repertoire, in particular through their passion in bringing forward seldom-heard 18th and 19th century composers. 
Individually, the members of the Franklin Quartet are prolific recording artists and have contributed to recordings that have been nominated for six Grammy Awards. They possess extensive experience as specialists in historically informed performance practice, and are highly sought after as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral leaders across the United States and abroad. 
Formed in 2016, the Franklin Quartet is based in Philadelphia, PA and proudly embraces its role as the city’s only period string quartet. Elle Marie Sullivanon of MD Theater Guide had this to say regarding Franklin Quartet’s debut in Washington, DC: “Franklin Quartet performs as a beautiful machine, working together as an ensemble to create music. Not a single moment did one musician outshine any of the others and rather than watching four people play it was an experience of watching four individuals create harmony together.”

Join us for the return of our annual Memorial Dei picnic! As in previous years, we will host the congregation and surrounding community in a time of celebration, with food trucks, drinks, vendors,  lawn games, and performances by live musicians both in the grounds and in the hall. 

Click here to buy tickets!

On May 24 we will be celebrating the feast of Pentecost! The service will include a baptism, and a reading of the text from Acts in different languages (if you are willing to read in a different language, please contact Rev. Chris!). All are encouraged to wear red in honor of the movement of the Holy Spirit. 

Jazz & Joe is a "coffee-house" style venue. Active listening and quiet conversation is welcome throughout the evening. Refreshments are served, and attendees are welcome to BYOB. This event is free, but donations are appreciated to help defray costs. Music starts at 7:30pm, and wraps up by 9:30pm. 

Please note: Jazz & Joe is not held in July, August, November, December.

Join us again for Movies in the Graveyard in 2026!
 Free popcorn included in the price of a ticket. Beverages will be sold.
Bring a chair, bring a blanket, bring a friend!

Click here to buy tickets

Please join us on a monthly basis to pack meals for people in need in Kensington. Lunches are packed in Riverside Hall immediately following Sunday services. The meals are then delivered to Prevention Point for distribution. To learn more about the work of Prevention Point, see their website at: https://ppponline.org

Future dates: May 17, June 28, July 26, August 30, September 27

Join us in remembering our beloved former organist, Paul Fejko, who passed away in 2025. After the Sunday service, we will be holding a brief service of rememberance as we install a plaque commemorating Paul's many years of service on the organ bench. 

Over the past few months, the Vestry has been having conversations about forming a vision for our church for the coming years - and the whole congregation is now invited to take part in the conversation! On this afternoon, we will share a meal and consider questions such as: 
*What is our current identity?
*What current programs and ministries best express who we are and what we are called to do?
*What might God be calling us to do and be in the future? 
*What should we be doing now to help us continue to grow and thrive in 5 years?

May 3 – Fifth Sunday of Easter

Collect: Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

• Acts 7:55-60
• 1 Peter 2:2-10
• John 14:1-14
• Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

May 10 – Sixth Sunday of Easter

Collect: O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

• Acts 17:22-31
• 1 Peter 3:13-22
• John 14:15-21
• Psalm 66:7-18

May 17 – Seventh Sunday of Easter

Collect: O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

• Acts 1:6-14
• 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
• John 17:1-11
• Psalm 68:1-10, 33-36

May 24 – Day of Pentecost

Collect: Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

• Acts 2:1-21
• or Numbers 11:24-30
• 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13
• or Acts 2:1-21
• John 20:19-23
• or John 7:37-39
• Psalm 104:25-35, 37

May 31 -   First Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday

Collect: Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

• Genesis 1:1-2:4a
• 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
• Matthew 28:16-20
• Psalm 8

Our service is comprised of uplifting music, Episcopal worship and spiritual/biblical teachings. While we are always a work in progress, Gloria Dei strives to be a place where all will feel welcome in faith and spirit.