Bryn Mawr 100: Our Mother of Good Counsel

 Pastor Father John Thomas Denny has only been with the parish six months, but he's hardly a stranger to the area.

"I'm a local boy," said Denny, the penultimate of seven children and former principal of Monsignor Bonner High School. "I was ordained here 21 years ago, and I was born at Bryn Mawr Hospital."

Of the three buildings on the church's Pennswood Road campus, the youngest, the school, is more than 100 years old. So it goes at Our Mother of Good Counsel: at this church, even the new is old.

The Augustinian parish celebrated 125 years of existence last year, the previous 31 of which were under the stewardship of Reverend James Martinez—an unusually long stint for the usually peripatetic Augustinian priests.

Denny explained that it's unusual, in the Catholic system, for a parish to be run by non-archdiocesan priests, but because of their connection to Villanova University, the Augustinians—the catholic church's utility players—were tabbed to run the parish.

Denny said that the church was built for and by the working poor, "with the dimes and nickels of Irish maids and Italian laborers," but has since become an interesting mix of the middle class and people "considerably above it."

Outside of the parishioners though, not much else has changed. In its 100-plus years of existence, the church has had only one major overhaul—a sort of face lift in the late-80s—and standard repairs.

"We had a slate roof and they changed it to tile," shrugged Denny.

Though the school has been closed for six years—the victim of what the pastor says is a nation-wide dip in enrollment in parochial schools—the church will be renting it out, starting at the end of the month, to the School of Nursing. The lease is for 10 years and will provide Our Mother will helpful revenue.

The church is also the only in the area that offers a 6:30 a.m. mass during the week. Denny said it's ideal for heads of household with too busy a family schedule to attend in the evening, and is consistently well-attended.

The parish has its eye on the future, too. Denny said that his hope, during his term as pastor, is to create a more robust outreach program for local young people—college students especially.

"Just in this area we have Haverford College, , tons of wonderful young people—a lot of whom wander over here on their own," said Denny. "If they knew how much we would love to have them, they'd come more often."

He added that Karen Carey, the church's coordinator of youth ministry, is also developing a program to attract young people and families. Her "Sunset Liturgies" program is a Sunday evening mass, followed by a meal, that starts in October. It aims to accommodate the busy schedules of families, while giving them an opportunity to get to know one another and strengthen the bonds that are so essential to the church.

"We're looking forward to it," said the pastor.

Editor's Note: This is the sixth in a . Check back with Bryn Mawr-Gladwyne Patch for more profiles leading up to the Sept. 10 celebration.