McCoy United Methodist Church
McCoy United Methodist Church (originally Owenton Church) is a former Methodist church located on 2.14 acres at the corner of 8th Avenue West and Arkadelphia Road (U. S. Highway 78) in College Hills near Birmingham-Southern College. It was founded in 1901 and later renamed in honor of North Alabama Methodist bishop James H. McCoy (1868-1919).
Serving the neighborhood, as well as students of the nearby college, McCoy flourished in the early part of the century. The present campus was constructed in the early 1920s. The BSC Concert Choir performed an annual Service of Lessons and Carols at the church beginning in the 1930s. As the demographics of the neighborhood changed beginning in the 1960s, the church's membership declined.
Unable to maintain its membership, the congregation disbanded in 1993. In 2005 the North Alabama Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church organized a "Service of Confession and Recommitment to Disciple-Making" on the church's steps, asking God's forgiveness for letting segregation and racism limit the church's willingness to reach out to communities.
The church's pipe organ, which started as a 1929 2-manual, 9-rank Skinner instrument (Opus 772) and was joined with a 3-manual, 44-rank Austin organ (Opus 2386) in 1963, was sold to Bluff Park United Methodist Church.
The Alabama Volunteers in Corrections non-profit ministry rented office space in the church during the 1980s.
The City of Birmingham purchased the property for $350,000. The McCoy Center for Community Service leases the entire property and uses the former education building for its programs, including the McCoy Adult Day Care. The Birmingham Public Library operates a literacy and outreach center there. The Alabama Gospel Center had plans to use the former sanctuary as a performance hall and to add exhibit spaces.
In June 2022 the Birmingham City Council entered into a tentative agreement to sell the property to Freedom 1957 LLC founded by attorney Danielle Hines for $600,000.
Pastors
- Clare Purcell, 1910s
- John Chitwood, 1939-1940s
- Lawton Higgs, 1983-
References
- Brown, Sara, et al (1993) McCoy United Methodist Church, 1901-1933. Birmingham: McCoy United Methodist Church
- Chang, Pauline J. (July 18, 2005) "Reconciling the Past, Confronting Racism" The Christian Post
- Bryant, Joseph D. (January 3, 2011) "Old Birmingham church aims for joyful noise as gospel center." The Birmingham News
- Parker, Illyshia (June 24, 2022) "60,000-square-foot center near Legion Field to be repurposed." Birmingham Business Journal
- Bains, David (January 15, 2023) "McCoy United Methodist Church, Birmingham, Alabama" Chasing Churches
External links
- McCoy United Methodist at the OHS Pipe Organ Database
- Alabama Gospel Center website