A church in the heart of the city, with a heart for the city

Alabama cathedral in talks to buy nearby Board of Education building for $5.5 million

April 13, 2026

[Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal cathedral in the Diocese of Alabama reportedly has offered $5.5 million to purchase a building across the street in response to the congregation’s growth. Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham plans to spend six months conducting due diligence work before closing on the purchase of the Birmingham Board of Education’s building on Sixth Avenue North, according to a report by AL.com. “The Advent is exploring the possibility of acquiring the Birmingham Board of Education building … as a way to further support our growing ministries and partnerships,” the Rev. Tom Murray, the cathedral’s vice dean, said in a recent church newsletter quoted by AL.com. “Over the six-month due diligence period, we will carefully and prayerfully be considering how this property may or may not be the right investment for us at this time.” The news also follows Dean Craig Smally’s attendance at a Board of Education meeting in February to say the cathedral’s leadership had just learned that the schools’ building was for sale and could be a good fit for “a growing congregation” in need of more space, including for parking. As the cathedral and school leaders continue talks, the Board of Education is planning to move out of the building into a new location about a block away. Cathedral Church of the Advent, the seat of the Diocese of Alabama, traces its history to the era of Birmingham’s 1871 founding, when 16 Episcopalians in the new city began meeting at a corner lot purchased for $5. The Episcopal church that was built on the site was completed in 1893, though Advent didn’t become the diocesan cathedral until 1982. Before the 2020 pandemic, the congregation had been topping 1,000 in average Sunday attendance. That average dropped to 480 in 2021 but has since rebounded to nearly 650 in 2024, according to the most recent available parochial report data.