The West Philadelphia church that unknowingly sold off valuable Tiffany windows for a fraction of their worth is now facing a court-ordered sale, as the bank takes action to collect on the over $2 million currently owed by the congregation, write Zoe Greenberg and Ryan W. Briggs for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The listing, describing the massive church as a “one-of-a-kind former religious building,” marks the end of a saga in which the neighborhood landmark at 50th Street and Baltimore Avenue had deteriorated publicly over the course of three years. The Gothic Revival building, which has its windows boarded up and walls crumbling, is listed for $1.4 million.
The historic church was purchased in 2022 by Emmanuel Christian Center, a congregation of about 400 members, with the help of a $1.75 million mortgage — well above the property’s assessed value of $800,000. Prior to the sale, the building served as the longtime home of the Hickman Temple A.M.E. Church.
In the listing, the building is described as a “grand 3-story structure” that “presents a unique investment with the potential for adaptive reuse.”
Read more about the sale of the historic West Philadelphia church and how it go to this point in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on PHILADELPHIA Today in March 2025.
