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Miss J.M.
Ada
Mutch
February 3, 1905 – January 27, 2012
Ada Mutch,
spiritual matriarch of BMPC, died on January 27, 2012, one week shy
of her 107th birthday. Ada attended worship at BMPC up
to the week she died. She was the daughter of Dr. Andrew Mutch,
BMPC’s third pastor, who brought his family here from Scotland in
1912 when Ada was seven. They settled into Converse House, which was
built for them on our church property and included a front parlor
(still in use) for spending time with guests. Over the years, Ada
shared wonderful memories of growing up in Bryn Mawr and at our
church, which had 350 members when they arrived. Ada had a long and
distinguished career in nursing and service in World War II before
returning to Bryn Mawr in 1955 to become director of nursing and the
nursing school at Lankenau Hospital. After her retirement (in 1970!)
she continued an active life of service in the Bryn Mawr community
and in her beloved church. A memorial service for Ada was held
in the sanctuary on Sat., Feb. 11, 2012.
Ada remembers:
-
Even
after automobiles became popular, it was customary for
families to leave their cars at home on Sunday and come to
church in horse-drawn carriages (or sleighs if there was
snow). There were sheds across the area of the back parking
lot for the horses.
-
Children went to Church School first
and then worshiped with their families at the morning service at
11:00. BMPC had an additional service at 4:00 p.m. for the
community’s domestic help, who walked or arrived on bicycles. The
pews were filled with boarding school students from Shipley,
Baldwin, and The Haverford School, for whom church attendance was
compulsory, so balconies were added to the Sanctuary for student
use.
-
Before we had a church choir,
congregational singing was led by a “presenter” who stood in the
front of the church. Ada was one of the 15 members of our first
choir, which made its debut with the opening of our current
Sanctuary and shared the rear balcony with boys from The Haverford
School. The choir was reportedly located in the back of the church
so there would be no “paper shuffling” during the sermon, which
lasted about 20 minutes.
Jeffrey Brillart,
BMPC’s Director of Music and Fine Arts, remembers:
- During
Sanctuary renovations in 2003, when Ada was 98, I took her up on
the scaffolding to see the Sanctuary beams. She had recently had
hip surgery and was moving slowly. When she saw that she had to
bend over to get UNDER the beams (she wanted to see every single
decorative medallion), she said "no problem." With that, she got
down on her hands and knees and CRAWLED under every one. With my
help to get up, she'd look at a medallion, reminisce a bit, then
get back down onto her knees to go see the next one. Her first
words when we got to the first medallion were, “This isn't as
big as I remembered!” (She had seen them at close range in the
late 1920s, when the Sanctuary was being built, and she climbed
up in response to a “dare” from her brother.)
-
When Ada
turned 100, I took her up the winding, narrow steps to the
carillon to see (and play) the bells. She looked at the
bells and said, "Father would be so happy about this. He
wanted bells in the church but we didn't have the money to
do that (in the late 1920s). So, Father made sure there was
an opening in the tower ceiling so bells could eventually be
installed."
To view Ada's
obituary, read and share your memories of her, or view photos of
her, click here.
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