1500 Marian Road

Abington, Pennsylvania, 19001-1918

Phone: 215-886-3456 or 215-886-1952

Fax: 215-886-7312

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Our first religious history can be traced to the Quakers in 1683 at the Friends Meeting in Abington Village, followed by the establishment of the Abington Presbyterian Church in 1714.  Not long after several German Baptist and Episcopalian churches followed.  Keneseth Israel built their synagogue in 1855.  St. John's Episcopal Church at Welsh Road and Washington Lane was built in 1919.  As most early settlers to our area were Protestants, the few Catholics here went into Philadelphia to worship.  It wasn't until 1835 that the first Montgomery County Catholic congregation gathered in faraway Norristown.   

At the end of the 19th century, then, Abington Village had few churches.  The Friends Meeting (1683) and Abington Presbyterian (1714) are the oldest.  The Church of the Immaculate Conception, Jenkintown was the only Catholic church founded in the 19th century (1867).  All other Roman Catholic churches in the area were started in the 20th century.  Our Lady Help of Christians Church, founded in 1953, became the first Marian Year parish in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. 

Of the groundbreaking ceremony, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, "Archbishop John O'Hara dedicated the first new Marian Year parish in the Philadelphia Archdiocese yesterday.  The impressive ceremonies, attended by more that 100 priests and nuns, took place at Our Lady Help of Christians in Abington.  The services formally opened the new chapel, school and convent buildings which were erected within five months on the old Folly Farms tract".

The dedication of the Marian Year parish to Mary, the Mother of God, was total.  By design the parish was founded on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1953.  Ground was broken on the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, March 25, 1954. The solemn dedication of the beautiful new parish church was held on August 24, 1963.  In honor and recognition of the Marian year, the name of the street on which the parish buildings were erected had been changed from Folly Road to Marian Road. 

We were formed from parts of Immaculate Conception Parish in Jenkintown, St. David's in Willow Grove and St. Luke's Parish, Glenside.  Four and one-half acres of what originally had been the Davidson Farm had been purchased for $95,000 by the Archdiocese.  This included the beautiful and spacious Davidson farmhouse, over 100 years old, which today serves as our rectory.  To the rear of the house stood a barn of considerable size, which became a meeting place for the congregants before being demolished to make room for the school building.  A lake used for swimming in the summer and ice skating in winter once graced the property where the new parish buildings now stand.In the early days of our parish, the first floor of the rectory was used for Sunday Mass. [see top picture].  After the convent and school were built, Mass was said in the school gym until the present church edifice was erected in 1963. 

Church Membership grew within a year of the formation of our parish.  A new development of split-level homes, Brentwood Manor, rose up on land that once had been ponds and fields of corn.  Many Catholic families moved into these houses.  The men and women of the parish immediately undertook numerous projects, the first of which was the laying of a sidewalk around the entire church property.  The pastor, Reverend Joseph D. Shallow, had been informed by the township officials that a sidewalk was required around the church property.  Fifteen men of the parish formed a work party, laid forms outlining the sidewalk, contracted for cement, and completed the sidewalk.  This project took most of the summer.

Over the years following our 1954 dedication as a parish, we developed both spiritually and financially; and through the combined efforts of religious and laity, our present church was built.  The dedication of the beautiful brick edifice, boasting a magnificent altar mosaic with the crucified Christ superimposed upon a singular golden ciborium, a seating capacity of 1,274 people, a children's cry room, and full air conditioning, was held August 24, 1963.  The women of the parish, armed with buckets, scrub brushes, and rags, cleaned the church in preparation for the dedication service.

The late 1960's and into the '70's saw a period of great activity and growth.  Elementary school enrollment topped over 300, and we had 100 students in Catholic high schools.  During the period between 1967 and 1977, Our Lady Help of Christians Parish participated in Saint Charles Seminary's Deacon Internship Program, our parish being one of the first chosen to do so.  The purpose was to give the seminarians "on the job training" in their final year, after they had been ordained to the Diaconate, but prior to their ordination to the Priesthood.