4 important things to know now about the 16th Street Baptist Church expansion
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Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church has big expansion plans and needs our help to wrap up the last phase of fundraising.
Read on to learn about the church’s capital campaign, the vision for the expansion and how to contribute.
Need-to-know info
1. There’s one major fundraising goal left.
Starting with great news, two of the three parts of the church’s capital campaign are fully funded. They are:
- $2.5 million goal met for programming about peacebuilding and social justice initiatives; and
- $1 million goal met for a building preservation endowment for the church.
The remaining goal? Raising $8 million to complete a 13,000-square-foot education and visitors center.
The church was about 40% complete on Feb. 11, when Regions Bank leaders helped narrow the gap by fulfilling a $300,000 pledge to the effort.
“As a bank, part of our job is to be a good community partner and to use our talents and resources to support those things that matter. When I heard about this campaign, I was thrilled. Everything the Rev. Price talked about fit within our strategic priorities around economic and community development and education and workforce readiness.”
Regions Bank Head of Corporate Philanthropy Lajuana Bradford
Even with this pledge fulfilled, the church is still looking to close its fundraising gap. And as the church’s pastor the Rev. Arthur Price points out, no amount of support is too small.
2. The new center will serve the Civil Rights District + beyond.
One of 10 National Preservation Award recipients in 2024 and an important part of the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, the church has a poignant past and a bold vision for the future.
For anyone unfamiliar with the church’s role in civil rights history, the church was the site of a Sept. 15, 1963 bombing that killed four young girls and injured more than 20 other church members as they prepared for Sunday service.
Price says the new center is part of a greater vision to increase tourism throughout the city’s Civil Rights District.
Contributing to that growth will create an economic “ripple effect” into the greater metro and beyond, he says.
“I am a native of Philadelphia and grew up where the Liberty Bell and Independence Mall are. It’s a district just like this. Here, we have the Civil Rights Institute. We have the 16th Street Baptist Church. We have the Ballard House. We have Kelly Ingram Park. People are going to flood here to learn what happened here.
“This is a place where souls were stirred, a place where systems were challenged, a place where a generation was galvanized … and it became a place where change took place.”
The Rev. Arthur Price, Pastor, 16th Street Baptist Church
3. Expect more immersive visitor experiences.
While thousands tour the church annually already, the new education and visitor center will be more modern and interactive. It will be built alongside the historic church and parsonage and features brickwork that complements the historic church structure.
“We want to create a sustainable space that will honor our past and engage people in the present. This new building will be a place of civil rights education, cultural enrichment and community engagement and also provide an economic impact for the community around us.”
The Rev. Arthur Price, Pastor, 16th Street Baptist Church
The new education and visitors center will include:
- Church + city history exhibits and programs
- A reflecting wall feature
- A community kitchen for local culinary entrepreneurs
- A cafe with long tables to unite people around meals
- A variety of meeting spaces and breakout rooms
Price says people frequently request meeting space in the Civil Rights District, from local businesses to the nearby Civil Rights Institute to the FBI holding conferences in the church.
Presently, the church must suspend tours to honor these requests. They won’t have to when the new building opens.
“Our vision is for students, for seekers, for scholars to come to this place and to this space so they can learn the lessons of the Civil Rights Movement, have lives touched and then take those lessons back so they can transform the land.
“They will learn about how they can be agents of change like those in 1963 who took it upon themselves to make sure that the deaths of four little girls would not be in vain.”
The Rev. Arthur Price, Pastor, 16th Street Baptist Church
4. How you can help
Ways you can help the 16th Street Baptist Church fund the remaining 60% of its capital campaign:
- Go to: 16thstreetbaptist.org/capital-campaign/
- Click “Give Now” or “Make a Pledge”
- Volunteer
- Spread the word
“Whether you are a corporation that can do several thousand dollars or whether you’re an individual that can do $5 or $10, this is a community asset that is going to benefit all of us. I would just encourage everyone who can to participate and to join in helping fulfill this vision because this is a tremendous asset for our entire community.”
Regions Bank Head of Community Engagement Leroy Abrahams
Check out video highlights from the Regions Bank pledge fulfillment presentation below:
Visit Regions Bank to learn more about the bank’s many community engagement initiatives.
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