Published on January 7, 2020 by Sean Flynt  
Magic City Religion
Professor David Bains (bottom left) with students in his Religion in Avondale seminar

Students of ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ professor David Bains spent the fall semester documenting Birmingham’s diverse worship spaces, with special emphasis on the Avondale community. Their , ranging from  to are now online at Bains’ .

Bains, a professor in ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ’s Department of Biblical and Religious Studies, specializes in the study of sacred spaces. He is past co-chair of the Space, Place, and Religion unit of the American Academy of Religion, and author of several studies of religious space including “Protestant Spaces in North America” in the Oxford Handbook of Religious Space (forthcoming) and “Church Architecture Worldwide since 1800” in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to World Christianity.  

For his Introduction to World Religions course and Religion in Avondale seminar in the fall, Bains asked 58 students to work in teams to document spaces as old as the 147-year-old , and as new as the 2-year-old . He said he expects to add another 12 essays this spring and in following semesters, creating an important digital resource for a devout and diverse city.

 
¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. ¼«ÀÖ½ûµØ fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks with the second highest score in the nation for its 98% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.