Ensley Highlands Methodist Church

Like many churches across the South, Ensley Highlands Methodist Church came from humble beginnings. The church is an outgrowth of a Sunday school started in 1911 by a small group of Methodists. Later that same year, the Reverend J. C. Persinger conducted a revival. The Ensley Highlands Methodist Church was officially organized on July 24, 1914, under the leadership of the Reverend W. G. Gaston. At the annual conference in November 1914, the membership had reached 103.

In 1915, the Reverend W. W. Dorman was appointed pastor. After him, the following pastors served this congregation: W. P. McGlawn, J. S. Glasgow, L. G. Sturdivant, L. A. Holmes, M. E. Wilson, U. S. Pitts, B. T. Cantrell, and G. F. Cooper who began serving in 1927. A frame building was used for several years by the congregation at Eighteenth Avenue and Twenty-Eighth Street. Under the leadership of the Reverend L. G. Sturdivant, the planning of the education building located at Nineteenth Avenue and Ensley Avenue was started. It was completed during the pastorate of the Rev. L. A. Holmes. In 1948, the Rev. James E. Harris became pastor after moving to Birmingham from Montevallo. By the time the sanctuary was completed in 1952, sixteen ministers had served Ensley Highlands Methodist since it was organized. The building committee, headed by C. D. Swann, worked hard to build the new church. The committee set up its construction organization, and purchased, and supervised all of the work. The first service in the new sanctuary was led by Pastor James E. Harris on March 16, 1952.

In February 1956, construction began on a new 5,000-square-foot Sunday School building that connected to the sanctuary. The three-story building, designed by architects Green, Holmquist, and Chambers, is constructed of brick, and completely fireproof. In addition, the church plans included renovating the existing education building and adding air-conditioning to the sanctuary at a total cost of $55,000. The Steel City Construction Company was contracted to construct the Sunday School building.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, a majority of the church congregation was employed by the nearby TCI steelworks. By the late 1980s, the steelworks had long closed, and roughly half of the congregation had left with it, retiring or moving away entirely. Due to changes in the racial demographics of Ensley, white families that attended the Methodist church migrated away. Few of the black families moving into the neighborhood had any connection to the church. Attendance dwindled from a full sanctuary of 600 people on Sundays in the 1960s to attendance of less than 100 in 1983, and down to only a few dozen in the 1990s.

During this time, crime was rising in the western portion of Birmingham. Many of the church’s parishioners were elderly and afraid they would be attacked outside the church or that their cars would be damaged or stolen. Most of them no longer attended evening services for those reasons especially after several church members had their cars stolen or were robbed. Within a year, three church members had their cars stolen.

In July 1987, a 74-year-old woman was mugged in the doorway of the church. After parking across the street and walking towards the side doors, a car stopped, and a young man jumped out and chased the woman up the sidewalk. The man knocked the woman down and stole her purse and diamond and gold necklaces. When interviewed by the Birmingham Post-Herald, pastor Rev. M. J. “Mac” McElhany said his secretary was afraid to bring a purse to work and his wife no longer carried a pocketbook to church anymore. He viewed the church’s problems as an overall crime problem in Birmingham’s western section. Rev. McElhany said he volunteered to take the pulpit at Ensley Highlands since many pastors objected to assignments at small churches in high-crime areas. At the time, the congregation was aging. At 60 years old, Rev. McElhany was younger than most of his parishioners, who did not include any children. The congregation totaled about 340 members in the late 1980s, but many were shut-ins or nursing home patients. On an average Sunday, about 80 attend services. Rev. McElhany viewed the crime problem as an issue with outsiders and a changing neighborhood. He noted the mugging victim’s purse was recovered in Gardendale and several cars that had been stolen from the church were discovered in North Birmingham. In response, Ensley Highlands partnered with other neighboring churches to hire off-duty officers and volunteers to patrol the churches. Rev. McElhany stated one solution would be for the city to hire more police officers.

Ensley Highlands Methodist Church permanently closed its doors around 2012. The large stained-glass window depicting a kneeling Jesus Christ was moved to a Methodist church in Palmerdale. The property was sold to another church, known as the Warriors of the Word church, but was later vacated and left abandoned. In June 2023, a massive fire engulfed the sanctuary and quickly spread to the entire building. Birmingham Fire and Rescue crews quickly responded to flames and smoke billowing from the rooftop. Resident and Ensley Highlands neighborhood president Antwon Womack revealed that the community had been actively trying to address the issues surrounding the vacant building due to previous minor fires. Fire crews are currently investigating the cause of the fire. Womack stated he had contacted the potential owner, but they denied ownership. After the fire, the church building was demolished, and the property was cleared of debris.

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