About Tabernacle Baptist Church
Tabernacle extended a call to The Rev. Dr. Christopher M. Hamlin, and he became pastor of Tabernacle in January 2004. Since coming to Tabernacle, these ministries were initiated, including — Deacon Ward Ministry; Sister-to-Sister Teen Ministry; Boys-to-Men/Men’s Ministry; Firehouse Shelter Outreach Mission, Tabernacle Cares; and Project Ghana, a mission project based in Winneba and Accra, Ghana, West Africa. Also, for several years, the congregation, in partnership with five other churches from Smithfield and College Hills, worked with Jefferson County Meals-on-Wheels to distribute food to persons living in these two communities. These congregations were First Congregational UCC, Greater Temple Baptist Church, Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church, St. Paul AME Church, and Thirgood Memorial CME Church. The University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health documented the success of the program and the impact it had in the community.
The church, in partnership with the New Baptist Covenant of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, developed an initiative with two additional congregations that focused on community-based service opportunities. Inaugurated by President Jimmy Carter, Tabernacle provided food for students and families at a local elementary school. The Weekend Backpack Project supplied food for twenty-five students/families on weekends that may not have nutrition when students were not in school. Tabernacle’s partnership also involved volunteering at the Community Food Bank to pack food for this project and other community needs. We collaborated with the Baptist Church of the Covenant and Vestavia Hills Baptist Church.
The Music Ministry took part in key community events that included City Stages on the Oasis Stage and singing for the premiere of the Broadway hit, The Lion King at the BJCC. The choir has provided music for visiting groups to the City of Birmingham on behalf of the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Since Pastor Hamlin’s tenure, the congregation replaced HVAC system that serves the Sanctuary and educational wing of the facility and a new bus was added to the transportation ministry. In addition, the church purchased two properties on Abraham Lincoln Woods Blvd. The church computers are now networked, church management programs have been added to ensure better record keeping and management, and a computer lab is housed in the Sommerville Library. A website has been developed: www.tabernaclebhm.org. We are using social media, Facebook and Youtube, as a means of sharing our ministry to a wider audience.
In 2015, the congregation affirmed moving forward with renovating its facilities. A Strategic Facility Study was done by a committee of members, and a construction company was selected that led and managed the congregation in the process of making strategic modifications. This work began in 2016.
In recent years, the Rev. Gregory Powell was ordained to the Gospel Ministry; several Deacons (Larry Cooper; Jermaine Fuller; Ledell Kimbrough; Ronald Lee, Sr.; the late Reginald Reeves; Paul Simmons, II; Tommie Whetstone; Joseph Williams and Phillip Owens) were ordained to ministry; Bro. Hollis Johnson became Director of Music Ministry; Angela Smith-Martin became the Church Secretary/Office Manager. Dea. The congregation affirmed Carl Harper to become the Church Clerk. Recently, after Dea. Harper’s retirement, Dea. Jermaine Fuller became church clerk. The Rev. Lyord Watson, Jr. was hired to help direct our Christian education programs and serve as an associate minister.
Legally, the congregation took the step of separating the church from Tabernacle Christian School. Articles of Incorporation were developed for both entities. Unfortunately, after many years of providing pre-K Christian education to many children, the decision was made to close Tabernacle Christian School.
In 2016, Pastor Hamlin and the congregation were awarded the prestigious Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Grant. The grant afforded the pastor a three-month sabbatical to explore the theme of family heritage. The congregation benefitted by being able programmatically to incorporate the same theme in expanding ministry opportunities. The Rev. Devon Crawford, then a student at Morehouse College and a son of Birmingham, was hired as the Pastor-in-Residence for the three-month sabbatical. This grant was awarded to 147 congregations throughout the United States.
The church continues to experience moderate, consistent growth, and ongoing ministries and mission work are making a difference in the community.