Government Street Presbyterian Church (GSPC), Mobile,AL, USA

Front view

Government Street Presbyterian Church (GSPC) is located at 330 Government Street, Mobile, Alabama-36602 USA.

Side view

Government Street Presbyterian Church is a part of the Presbyterian Church of USA in the Presbytery of South Alabama.

Side view

GSPC was established in 1831. It is also called “the mother of Presbyterianism” along the Gulf Coast.

History of the Church:

Rev. John Warren of the New York Evangelical Society of Young Men established the church in the year 1822. He built a structure for worshiping at the corner of Government and Emmanuel streets, the present site of the Laclede Hotel. In 1829, Rev. John Warren donated the structure to Rev. Murdock Murphy of the Independent Protestant Church. The congregation was formerly organized in 1831 with 21 members. A frame building was erected in 1834 and the congregation gathered there.

Inner view

As the congregation grew in leap and bounds the need for construction of a bigger structure was felt. In 1836, land on the corner of Jackson and Government streets was purchased. The present church building in Greek revival architecture with handsomely proportioned portico and dignified ionic pillars was completed in 1839 at a cost of $60,000.

Rear view with inbuilt pipe organ

  It had a steeple with a large clock imported from Liverpool and also contained the city’s fire bell. In 1852, the steeple was struck by lightning and hence it was removed never to be replaced.

Pulpit area with Corinthian capitals

The dramatically lighted pulpit area is noteworthy for its exquisitely carved Corinthian capitals and fine entablature. The ceiling is deeply coffered in a diamond pattern. The original high-backed walnut pews are still in use.

Pipe organ

The Pipe Organ:

The organ of 58 ranks was designed and built especially for this building byThe Rieger-Kloss Pipe Organ Company of Krnv, Czech Republic.

The pipe organ is unique and designed to look as if it were always a part of the building.

The Choir

The present congregation is of over 480 members. The church has worship services, Christian education, music and fine arts, and urban ministries. GSPC supports missionaries serving in Lesotho and Madagascar.The Church is having a Music Library which lends music for use in worship services and concerts  in local churches.

The present site of the LA CLEDE Hotel at the corner of Government and Emmanuel streets where 

Rev. John Warren first started the church in the year 1822. 

 



U.S.Department of Interior has designated the sanctuary as one of America’s historic buildings. 

Courtesy: GSPC Publications/web site

St.Joseph Catholic Church, 808 Springhill Ave., Mobile, Alabama, USA

St.Joseph Catholic Church is located at 808 Springhill Ave., Mobile in the state of  Alabama, USA

Front elevation

History of the Church:

In the years 1820 and 30’s German immigrants began to settle in Mobile. St.Joseph Church was built to minister the German speaking Catholic Community.

Northern view

Bishop Michael Portier appointed a Jesuit priest, Father Peter Ismand as the first pastor of St.Joseph Parish in the year 1857.

Southern view

Early place of worship:

In the beginning, the congregation used to assemble at the southwest corner of Caliborne and Conti streets. A church was constructed in that location and solemnly dedicated on August 15, 1858.

Altar

Preparation for New Church:

Membership of the Parish began to swell and a need arose to plan and constructs a larger church. The present land at Springhill Avenue was purchased from Prador family.

View from the Altar with pipe organ at top

A magnificent church building with its soaring nave and spectacular, stained glass windows was designed in Gothic style. 

Tablet showing the history

The corner stone was laid by the then Bishop Allen on August 8, 1907. Construction was completed within a year and the present sanctuary was dedicated on August 4, 1908.

                                      Stained glass on the windows

Inside this House of God contains statues, exquisite stained glass windows and wall paintings that display a rich and subtle Christian belief.

In 1907 several organizations were established by the church under the leadership of Father Linus Schuler. Among these were:  The Altar Society, The Holy Name Society, St.Vincent de Paul Conference, The Society for Propagation of Faith and The Holy Child Association.

                                                                                            Statues

On the 5^th of August, 1924, ownership of the property was transferred from the Jesuits to the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Mobile, who paid $ 1.00 for the church property and $ 1.00 for the school property.

Wall paintings

Services:

During its formation a Parish School was also established. It provided catholic education for children of the parish. However, the school was closed in 1967, due to declining enrollment. 

                                 The place where school was functioning

The Sisters of Mercy came to Mobile in 1884 for service in St. Joseph's Parish. Their social works mission included visiting the sick, the destitute and prisoners. They founded St. Joseph's School, later to be called the Convent of Mercy Academy.  The convent was moved to another location in 1969.

                                                                                Convent of Mercy

Father Peter Ismand was a popular priest who ministered the soldiers of both the Confederacy and the Union Armed Forces. He was also very active during the Yellow Fever epidemic.

  US Marine Hospital where Fr.Ismand served the soldiers

Sisters of Mercy administered the Mobile City Hospital for 83 years between 1861 and 1959 during agonizing period of wars, yellow fever and epidemic and undertook  selfless service to the people of Mobile. 

Mobile City Hospital

A Faithful group of Parishioners:

The year 2007 marked the 150^th Anniversary of the founding of the “German Church”. Families of the Parish started migration to the western part of the city due to variation reasons and the number of parishioners began to decline. In 1997, the parish census dwindled to 60 members. Nonetheless, the parish continues on with a small, but faithful and dedicated group of parishioners."

Courtesy: Church resources

Christ Church Cathedral, Mobile, Alabama, USA.

Christ Church Cathedral, Mobile, Alabama, USA.

Nestled between Fort Conde and Mobile Government Plaza, Christ Church Cathedral, a historical site, is located at 115 South Conception Street, Mobile, Alabama, United States of America.

The Portico

This is the first Episcopal Church in Mobile as well as in the entire State of Alabama.

The side view

                                                                           

Christ Church Cathedral was established in the year 1823. Prior to that there was no Protestant Church built in this part of the country.

                                                                     

The interior view

The first Anglican Church services had been conducted at Fort Charlotte during the British occupation of Mobile from 1763 to 1780. From 1780 to 1813, Spain ruled the region. During that period there was no active gathering of Anglican congregation.

A view of balcony with pipe organ 

In 1813, Mobile was occupied by the United States troops and then onward, the gathering of Protestant congregations revived. In the 1820s, Christ Church served as the site of a Union Church, a worship place for believers of all Protestant Christians.

                                           

Alter

Embedded stone script

Interior wall with stained glass

  

In the year 1823, many religious and educational institutions were established in Mobile. Christ Church Episcopal Congregation was one among them.

Alter table

Cornerstone for the present ‘Greek revival’ style building was laid in 1835 and it took seven years to complete the construction. It was consecrated in 1842 by Leonidas Polk, the Bishop of Louisiana and Alabama. The Bishop was also nick named as “Sewanee’s Fighting Bishop" because he later joined the Confederate States Army during the American Civil war and commanded an Artillery Corps in the capacity of Lieutenant General. The word “Sewanee” denotes the place where he founded the University of the South.

Stained glass.1

                                            
                          Stained glass.2                                         Stained glass.3

 In 1906 a major hurricane devastated the Mobile area and the storm blew the original steeple through the roof. It was never replaced. The church assumed its modern appearance without the steeple. The interior, which had to be rebuilt following the 1906 disaster, features stained glass windows. In 2005, the church became the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. It serves as the seat of the Bishop.

Again in 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged the nave and Chapter House which prompted extensive repair and renovation by incurring a huge amount.

 Image courtesy of Christ church cathedral @ http://www.christchurchcathedralmobile.org

Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

It is the oldest congregation of any religious denomination in Alabama and the Mississippi River Valley, established in 1703.

Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

 History of the Cathedral:

The Old town of Mobile (La Mobile) and Fort Louis de la Louisiane were constructed by French settlers in the year 1702. The site was located at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff, the present day Le Moyne, Alabama on the Mobile River in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. The settlement served as the Capital of French Louisiana from 1702 to 1711. The capital was shifted to the present day site in the year 1711.

Portico

At its peak, Old Mobile (La Mobile) had a population of approximately 350 inhabitants occupying between 70 and 100 structures.

Pipe Organ

Fort Louis de la Louisiane served as the political, military and religious center of the settlement. The fort housed the residence of Bienville, the Governor, his officers and soldiers as well as a chapel and several other structures.

Tablet embedded in memory of the first Pastor, Rev. Henry R de la Vente

It was in this chapel, the first Catholic Parish on the Gulf coast was established in 1703, one year after the founding of La Mobile and Fort Louis de la Louisiane, by John Baptiste de la Croix, the Bishop of Quebec. Rev. Henri Roulleaux De la Vente was canonically installed as the first pastor of the church of Fort Louis de la Louisiane (Mobile).

Altar

When the city of Mobile was relocated to its present site in 1711, the Parish Church was rebuilt on the west side Royal Street, just north of Conti Street, under the patronage of Our Lady of Mobile. It was in 1781, in Mobile’s Spanish period, that the parish received its present title “Church of the Immaculate Conception.”

Stained Glass windows

The present church, built in 1835-50, is the third parish church built by Bishop Michael Portier when he became the First Bishop of Mobile in 1829. The portico was added in 1870, the Bell tower in 1890 and the stained glass windows in 1910. The Cathedral was designated as Minor Basilica by Pope John XIII in 1962.