2nd Presbyterian Church

From Bhamwiki
(Redirected from Second Presbyterian Church)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Second Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian congregation located at 1300 Columbiana Road, near Shades Creek in Homewood. Until 1963 it was located in Birmingham’s Southside. The congregation held it last worship service on October 1, 2023 at 3 p.m. and is in the process of merging with Edgewood Presbyterian Church. In fall 2023, the church's request to rezone the property so that it could be sold for commercial development was contested.

Southside Location (1882-1963)

The congregation was founded in 1882 as a mission of 1st Presbyterian Church in Birmingham's Southside, and organized as a separate congregation in 1884. In 1887 and 1896 the church was located on Avenue C between 10th and 11th Streets. In addition to morning and evening services, the church offered a Sunday School in both English and German.

By early the next century, the church had moved to 15th Street South. That building was destroyed by a tornado on March 25, 1901. Later the same year the church dedicated a new building at 1190 10th Avenue South, to designs by D. A. Helmich in a blend of Victorian Gothic and Richardsonian Romanesque styles. The red brick building is raised on a rusticated sandstone basement and trimmed with limestone. It is cruciform in plan with four square towers. The southeast tower is taller , with a steeper roof than the others, and contains a belfry. Offices and Sunday school rooms surround the choir. Large circular windows on the west, south and east gables are filled with stained glass framed in wooden tracery.

The congregation moved out of that building for their present location in Homewood in December 1963. New Hope Baptist Church moved into it the next month. A group of members returned for a special ceremony in 1965 to remove the cornerstone from the old church as its new building was completed. When New Hope Baptist moved out in 1970, the suffered some yeas of neglect before becoming the UAB Ballet House and then the Spencer Honors House. The 1901 building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Homewood Location (1963-present)

The new building preserved some features of the 1901 structure, including red brick walls and a large front gable pierced by a circular window. In 2016, Second Presbyterian began hosting the services of Grace Fellowship, established by Redeemer Community Church. It also has served for manyyears as the home of ABC Child Development, one of four daycare centers located in Homewood. By summer 2023, the church's membership had dwindled to 9 individuals and the heating and airconditioning ceased to work in the sanctuary building. The church offered the property for sale and received three offers, two for commercial redevelopment and one from Grace Fellowship Church. The church chose to accept the higher commercial offer so that the funds could be used for mission work. After the Homewood Board of Zoning Adjustment denied a rezoning request in October 2023, the church appealed to the Homewood City Council. After a lengthy hearing on November 6, the church requested the council to hold off on voting on the request so it could consider the calls to preserve the site as a church and daycare. On December 11, 2023 at the parties' request, the council referred the matter back to the planning commission so that a revised rezoning request could be considered.

Pastors

References

External links

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=2nd_Presbyterian_Church&oldid=214104"