Birmingham Churches and Their Cornerstones 69

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is a survivor. When it was erected, on the corner of 12th Street and 11th Avenue South, 11th Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church, South was across the street and Second Presbyterian just a block away. Both congregations have long since moved away as the area saw many of its residences give way to the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The Second Presbyterian buidling still stands as part of the campus of UAB.

The cornerstone of St. Andrew’s is dated 1913 and bears 2 diagonal St. Andrew’s crosses. On the other face the stone (and this is indeed one stone) bears the verse “O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 96:9). Good arguments can be made that this is an absolutely fundamental text for the Anglican tradition, and in any case it would have been known to the congregation as a regular part of worship since it is part of the Venite, a canticle sung or said regularly at morning prayer.

In addition to the cornerstone, the church also has a name stone over the front door. Much more on the architecture of the building is available in John Schnorrenberg’s Walking Tours of Birmingham Church’s which is available online from the Alabama Departmet of Archives and history here.

Read this first post for more on this series on Birmingham churches and their cornerstones.

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