Beginnings
The church was established in 1907. It was originally located in the western section of Birmingham, some twenty miles (32 km) from its current location. The original meeting location was in the Compton Hill community, now called Fairview. The church originally met in various temporary locations, including a school and several private homes. The first permanent house of worship for this congregation was built in 1908 at the intersection of Hayes Avenue and Hunter Street (now Eufaula Avenue and 24th Street). They remained in this location until December 1928, when they moved to a larger facility at the corner of 17th Street and 4th Court West, approximately 1/3-mile from the previous location. This new building included a sanctuary that seated over 700, as well as numerous Sunday School classrooms. Numerical growth occurred in the church throughout the next several decades, making Hunter Street one of the largest Baptist churches in Birmingham, if not all of Alabama. A chapel and additional educational space was constructed across the street from the newer location in 1952, and in 1958, a new 1800-seat sanctuary was dedicated. This sanctuary was constructed adjoining the 1952 building. During the 1960s, the church broadcast its Sunday morning worship service live, first on radio on WAQY 1220, then beginning in 1967 on WBMG-TV (now WIAT). This broadcast ministry continued through 1972. A Family Life Center, with a gymnasium and game room, was constructed in 1974.
Read more about this topic: Hunter Street Baptist Church
Famous quotes containing the word beginnings:
“Let us, then, take our compass; we are something, and we are not everything. The nature of our existence hides from us the knowledge of first beginnings which are born of the nothing; and the littleness of our being conceals from us the sight of the infinite. Our intellect holds the same position in the world of thought as our body occupies in the expanse of nature.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)
“When the beginnings of self-destruction enter the heart it seems no bigger than a grain of sand.”
—John Cheever (1912–1982)
“The beginnings of altruism can be seen in children as early as the age of two. How then can we be so concerned that they count by the age of three, read by four, and walk with their hands across the overhead parallel bars by five, and not be concerned that they act with kindness to others?”
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)