St Paul United Methodist Church
St Paul United Methodist Church is a Methodist church located at 1500 6th Avenue North, on Block 38 in Birmingham's Civil Rights District.
The congregation was organized in 1869. Its present building was dedicated in 1904 and remodeled in 1951.
Walter White, executive secretary of the NAACP, spoke at St Paul Methodist at the close of the Southeast region leadership training conference in February 1953. By 1956 the church began hosting mass meetings as part of the Civil Rights Movement. During the pivotal 1963 Birmingham Campaign the church hosted meetings as well as training sessions for demonstrators, including young people who participated in the Children's Crusade.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference co-founder Joseph Lowery was pastor of St Paul Methodist Church in 1965.
Pastors
- Otis Flournoy, 1963–1965
- Joseph Lowery, 1965–
- Horace Blount III, present
References
- "Arrests Break Up City Hall March" (April 8, 1963) Birmingham Post-Herald - via Birmingham Public Library Digital Collections
- Flournoy, Cecil B. (March 10, 2017) "Memories of St Paul UMC During the Civil Rights Era" Scrollworks - accessed March 28, 2020
External links
- St Paul United Methodist Church website