The closing of St. Peter's has sparked anxiety among former parishioners, preservationists, and members of the art world, all of whom are concerned about the fate of the buildings and of the art and furnishings housed there.

Of particular concern are two unusual 1909 stained-glass windows executed by the esteemed muralist Violet Oakley, a former student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and considered one of the greatest American muralists.

After the last service at St. Peter's in April, after the doors were closed and the congregation dispersed, parishioner Carl Yusavitz found himself wondering.

"What about all this stuff?" he asked himself. "What about the windows? What if these things disappear into private hands?"

Such thoughts preoccupied members of the preservation community as well, and several weeks ago, J. Randall Cotton, associate director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, wrote the diocese about the matter.

"The historical commission considers the removal of exterior stained-glass windows from designated historic properties to be an action that requires the review and permission of the commission," Cotton wrote in a letter to Bishop Charles E. Bennison of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. "We trust you will properly apply to the commission should you propose to remove the windows."

Just a few years ago, the diocese drew criticism when it dismantled the interior of the Cathedral Church of the Savior in West Philadelphia, selling off church furnishings - which parishioners stumbled across in a local antique store - and obliterating murals by Edwin Blashfield, renowned muralist of the Library of Congress.

Bennison said in an interview last week that the diocese had not decided what to do about St. Peter's or its windows, furnishings and artifacts.

"We don't know what we are going to do with the building," he said. "We could sell it. Obviously, it has historic significance, and the windows are part of that. We are well aware of the value of Violet Oakley. There are other valuable windows there, too."

In addition to the Oakley windows, there are two Tiffany windows and other windows by early American stained-glass artists. Both the Oakley - The Wise and Foolish Virgins - and the Tiffany windows were given to the church as memorials.

"The building is in bad shape now," Bennison said. "It would be better... if another church purchased it."

Bennison said his chief of staff, who has a real estate background, is considering what to do with St. Peter's, at 6000 Wayne Ave.

"We have a church now empty," he said. "We get calls all the time from other churches, other institutions, from developers, from small businesses."

But "we don't have any agreement of sale," he said.

The windows are not being "actively marketed" separately, Bennison added. But if they were threatened either by building deterioration or by activities of a new owner, the diocese "would have to consider how to protect them," he said.

Parishioners and the former pastor say the buildings at St. Peter's are not in bad shape at all, although some of the windows are at risk from deteriorating frames.

The Oakley windows, however, were cleaned and preserved a few years ago, thanks to a grant from Preservation Pennsylvania, a service organization.

"They were in terrible shape," said Joseph Beyer, whose company restored the windows. "They are unique in Philadelphia art history, certainly. They are in good shape now."

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