OUR BACKGROUND

Let's get this project started ...

In summer 2019, Berks County Community Foundation hired three college-level interns to kick off an exciting project: cataloging all of the buildings in Reading, Pennsylvania that were purpose-built for worship.

After a training session with Philadelphia-based Partners for Sacred Places, the interns set off into the community, meeting with religious leaders and touring houses of worship in the city.

Over a thirteen-week period, the interns created a comprehensive list of the 80+ purpose-built religious structures that remain in the City of Reading. Of those structures, the interns conducted 24 in-depth tours and interviews, capturing photographs and information about the interior and exterior of the buildings. For the remainder, they gathered information about the exteriors only.

This website captures their findings and provides a point-in-time look at the sacred places. The goal is to continue to tour and capture information about the rest of the purpose-built houses of worship in the city, and then move out into the county.

For more information about the project, contact Berks County Community Foundation at 610.685.2223 or email info@bccf.org.

MEET OUR INTERNS!

Summer 2019

MATTHEW HAVENS

2019 Intern

Matthew Havens is a graduate of Muhlenberg Area High School in Temple, PA and was a rising senior at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University studying Historic Preservation at the time of the internship in 2019.

JUSTIN ABREU-CASTRO

2019 Intern

At the time of the internship, Justin Abreu-Castro attended Alvernia University where he majored in Accounting and Theology. Justin is a graduate of Reading High School. At Alvernia, he was part of the Reading Collegiate Scholars Program. His knowledge of the city proved invaluable to the team.

MONIQUE DORROH

2019 Intern

Monique Dorroh holds a Bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University and at the time of the internship was a candidate for a Master of Architecture at Penn State.