St. Paul United Methodist Church

Founded in 1869, St. Paul is one of the oldest African-American churches in Birmingham. Its current building was erected in 1904. In 1956, St. Paul was the site of one of the earliest meetings in Birmingham during the direct action campaign to integrate the city’s buses.

During the demonstrations in 1963, St. Paul hosted mass meetings as well as held training sessions in nonviolent civil disobedience for the young demonstrators who participated in the Children’s Crusade marches. Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, a founder along with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was one of the pastors at St. Paul during the Civil Rights Movement.

Address: 1500 6th Ave. N., Birmingham, AL 35203
Phone: (205) 252-3236
Visit website: www.stpaulbham.org
Tours by appointment only.

» View the moving oral history of the St. Paul United Methodist Church on our sister platform, Voices of Alabama.