2nd Presbyterian Church

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 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 building became the UAB Honors House. The 1901 building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The new building preserved some features of the 1901 structure, including red brick walls and a large front gable pierced by a circular window. Second Presbyterian currently also hosts services for Grace Fellowship, a mission of Redeemer Community Church.

Pastors

• James Watson, 1887
• F. E. Maddox, 1896
• A. G. Harris, 1920
• Alva Gregg, 1959
• Adam Borneman, 2010-2014

References

• Nelson, Linda & Tom Dolan (May 1986) "Second Presbyterian Church" National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form - accepted September 11, 1986.

External links

• Second Presbyterian Church website