St. Paul UMC receives $750,000 grant from the National Park Service for Preservation, Rehabilitation and Repair

On May 25, 2023, the National Park Service (NPS) awarded $21 million to 37 projects in 16 states as part of the Historic Preservation Fund’s African American Civil Rights grant program, which funds preservation projects and efforts of sites tied to the struggle of African Americans to gain equal rights.

St. Paul United Methodist Church was on of the recipients. St. Paul UMC is one of three historic churches affiliated with the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument. The congregation received $750,000 for Preservation, Rehabilitation and Repair. 

During the Birmingham demonstrations in 1963 against racial segregation, St. Paul hosted mass meetings and held training sessions in nonviolent civil disobedience for the young demonstrators who participated in the Children’s Crusade marches. Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, who established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference along with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was pastor of the church. The grant funding will improve mechanical and plumbing systems. St. Paul UMC is providing $26,000 in matching funds.   

Other recipients include the Historic Bethel Baptist Churchin Birmingham, Dexter Avenue King Memorial in Montgomery and Prince Hall Masonic Lodge Rehabilitation Project in Atlanta. Congress appropriated funding for the African American Civil Rights Grant Program in fiscal year 2022 through the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF).

You can read the full announcement from the National Park Service at www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/aacr-2023.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery.