Bluff Park United Methodist Church
Bluff Park United Methodist Church is a Methodist church located on Valley Street in Bluff Park. The senior pastor is Ross Furio.
The church was founded in 1908 as an outgrowth of a multi-denominational congregation that met near Hale Springs on Shades Mountain beginning in 1889. The Methodists and Presbyterians split off from that group when the Baptist contingent began using literature incompatible with their tenets. The new church, called the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Hale Springs, was led by J. P. Cornelius. Its first building, a frame structure, was completed on Valley Street in 1912.
In 1953 the church completed a new building. That structure was converted into a chapel when a $4.3 million expansion with a new sanctuary was completed in 1999. The stained glass windows in the new building were the last designed by Frederick Cole, former artist-in-residence at Canterbury Cathedral. They were constructed by Rohlf's Stained and Leaded Glass Studios in Mount Vernon, New York. The pipe organ, a 3-manual, 44-rank Austin organ (Opus 2386) with some older components, was purchased from McCoy United Methodist Church when it dissolved in 1993. Randall Dyer & Associates restored and installed the instrument.
References
- Ellaby, Liz (April 2, 2008) "Bluff Park United Methodist will celebrate 100 years of life." Birmingham News
- Garrison, Greg () "Bluff Park Methodist's very special windows complete a $4.9 million addition."
External links
- Bluff Park United Methodist Church website
- Bennett, Don (December 6, 2000) "A Child Shall Lead Them: The story in the windows of Bluff Park United Methodist Church"
- Bluff Park United Methodist Church at the OHS Pipe Organ Database