New Birth Birmingham
New Birth Birmingham (formerly The Refiner's House) is a Pentecostal church located at 117 12th Court Northwest off of Huffman Road in Huffman.
The congregation began worshipping in its current location in 2007. The 93,000 square foot campus was built in 1978 by Davis Architects for Ridgecrest Baptist Church. By August 2008, Refiner's House had a membership of over 1,000 congregants, which grew to 2,300 by 2011.
Refiner's House was began in 1997 by 23 members of Pinson Valley Worship Center, which at one time had a membership of over 450. They called Pastor Stephen A. Davis in 2001. He led the congregation to the new name, and several locations, including a former auto parts store in Center Points, and the Center Point Courthouse.
By November 2004, they had a permanent sanctuary in a former church at 2205 3rd Street Northeast in Center Point. By 2007, Refiner's House was outgrowing the Center Point location, and decided to purchase Ridgecrest's 2,200-seat worship center. Ridgecrest in turn purchased the 3rd Street sanctuary, and used it as a temporary home while it was building a new sanctuary in Trussville.
In 2011, with around 2,300 members, the church became a mission of the Lithonia, Georgia-based New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, headed by Bishop Eddie Long. Long, who made news when a number of sexual harassment lawsuits were filed against him by male members of his church, had mentored Davis since 2006.
References
- Garrison, Greg (August 10, 2008) "Ridgecrest Baptist converts factory into church." The Birmingham News'
- Garrison, Greg (June 6, 2011) "Birmingham church affiliates with Bishop Eddie Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga." The Birmingham News
External links
- New Birth Birmingham website