Southside Baptist Church: Difference between revisions
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'''Southside Baptist Church''' is a church located at the intersection of [[11th Avenue South|11th Avenue]] and [[19th Street South]] in [[Five Points South]]. Formed in [[1886]], the church has been one of the largest and most influential churches in the Alabama Baptist State Convention, though this has changed in recent times. | '''Southside Baptist Church''' is a church located at the intersection of [[11th Avenue South|11th Avenue]] and [[19th Street South]] in [[Five Points South]]. Formed in [[1886]], the church has been one of the largest and most influential churches in the Alabama Baptist State Convention, though this has changed in recent times. | ||
Originally, the church worshiped in two buildings in [[Birmingham]]'s [[Southside]]. After a fire destroyed its second sanctuary in [[1906]], the church worked with [[Warren & Welton]] architects to design a new building. They rejected the architects' proposal: a domed, cruciform design with a square tower based on the First Baptist Church of New York City | Originally, the church worshiped in two buildings in [[Birmingham]]'s [[Southside]]. After a fire destroyed its second sanctuary in [[1906]], the church worked with [[Warren & Welton]] architects to design a new building. They rejected the architects' proposal: a domed, cruciform design with a square tower based on the First Baptist Church of New York City. | ||
[[Image:Southside Baptist Church-Warren & Welton.jpg|left|thumb|125px|Warren & Welton's unbuilt 1908 design]] | [[Image:Southside Baptist Church-Warren & Welton.jpg|left|thumb|125px|Warren & Welton's unbuilt 1908 design]] | ||
Later, the commissioned Reuben H. Hunt of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who delivered plans for a Greek Revival temple-style building with a hexastyle Ionic portico. The new sanctuary was completed in [[1911]]. The church built an education building in the 1920s. During much of the early 20th century, Southside contributed a number of leaders to local and state Baptist causes. | |||
The church was the first church in Alabama to televise a worship service, in [[1950]]. In [[1968]] the church dedicated a new 48-stop [[Samford Memorial Pipe Organ]] designed and built by organist [[Ted Tibbs]] and the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, Ohio. | The church was the first church in Alabama to televise a worship service, in [[1950]]. In [[1968]] the church dedicated a new 48-stop [[Samford Memorial Pipe Organ]] designed and built by organist [[Ted Tibbs]] and the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, Ohio. | ||
Revision as of 01:11, 30 January 2011
Southside Baptist Church is a church located at the intersection of 11th Avenue and 19th Street South in Five Points South. Formed in 1886, the church has been one of the largest and most influential churches in the Alabama Baptist State Convention, though this has changed in recent times.
Originally, the church worshiped in two buildings in Birmingham's Southside. After a fire destroyed its second sanctuary in 1906, the church worked with Warren & Welton architects to design a new building. They rejected the architects' proposal: a domed, cruciform design with a square tower based on the First Baptist Church of New York City.
Later, the commissioned Reuben H. Hunt of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who delivered plans for a Greek Revival temple-style building with a hexastyle Ionic portico. The new sanctuary was completed in 1911. The church built an education building in the 1920s. During much of the early 20th century, Southside contributed a number of leaders to local and state Baptist causes.
The church was the first church in Alabama to televise a worship service, in 1950. In 1968 the church dedicated a new 48-stop Samford Memorial Pipe Organ designed and built by organist Ted Tibbs and the Holtkamp Organ Company of Cleveland, Ohio.
As the demographics in Birmingham changed around the church, Southside remained dedicated to ministering to the increasingly diverse population of the neighborhood rather than moving to a suburb of Birmingham (as did, for example, First Baptist Church of Birmingham, formerly located downtown). A concurrent change also occurred in theology, as it began to distance itself from the fundamentalist doctrine and morality of almost all the Birmingham area's other Southern Baptist congregations, staunchly professing support for freedom of thought and social action.
The church offers space for other congregations to meet, including Chinese and Korean congregations, and space and support for community ministries. In 2001-2002, Southside Baptist provided worship space to Temple Emanu-el while its facility was being renovated. Currently Southside Baptist is affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, the Alliance of Baptists, the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Alabama State Baptist Convention. The SBC and ASBC affiliations, however, are very nominal at this point given the congregation's stances mentioned above.
Pastors
- A.C. Davidson (1898–1906)
- James E. Dillard (1918–1936)
- James Buchanan (1937–1957)
- Lamar Jackson
- Dale Chambliss (–1996)
- J. Stephen Jones (1999–present)
External links
- Southside Baptist website
References
- Sulzby, James F., Jr (1947) Annals of the Southside Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, 1886-1936. Birmingham: Birmingham Printing Company
- Allen, Lee. Southside Baptist Church: A Centennial History. A.H. Cather Publishing, 1996.
- Flynt, Wayne. Alabama Baptists: Southern Baptists in the Heart of Dixie. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1998.