Birmingham Churches and Their Cornerstones 81

It is fairly common for African American Baptist churches to be named for one of the four evangelists: St. Mark, St. Matthew, St. Luke, and St. John. This is especially the case with John, which may also refer to John the Baptist. But when another saint’s name is involved, such as Mary or Joseph. There is generally a story.

In the case of St. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church, it is that the church was originally located on Joseph Street. But, instead of Joseph St. Baptist Church, the “St.” abbreviation was placed before the name and the church was named for the husband of the Mary, not the street. (Joseph Street was renamed 3rd Street North when Smithfield was annexed into Birmingham at the end of 1909.)

The current church was erected in 1979 during the pastorate of Birmingham Civil Rights Leader, the Rev. Dr. Abraham Woods. It sits on 9th Avenue North next to Parker High School.

It is unusual in that it includes not only the usual cornerstones, including one representing an earlier building, but a separate small architect’s stone from Walter Carlos Anderton.

Anderton’s 2022 obituary states that his first job as an architect was the 1961 Our Lady of the Angels Monestary in Irondale for the Poor Clares of Pepetual Adoration mother superior, and future Television celebrity, Mother Angelica. His last project was the community’s new monestary in Hanceville.

The cornerstone itself is located on the edge of the wall defining the church’s porch and has inscriptions on three sides presumably incorporating the text from the stones on two previous buildngs, or at least recreating what they would have said.

For more information on the church’s history, see its the history on its website and its entry on Bhamwiki. Read this first post for more on this series on Birmingham churches and their cornerstones.

Map of Posts in this Project

Each site in this project is mapped below. Clicking on an icon will bring up a box with a link to the post on the site. Please use it to browse the collection.

The color and shape of the location markers indicate the character of the cornerstones at each site. When the stone includes an inscription, and not just names, it is yellow. When there are multiple stones, as here, a square is used. Click here for full information on the icons.