Briarwood Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presb ...

located in suburban

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

History

It was formed in 1960 by the Rev. Frank M. Barker, Jr. and has been a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

congregation since its inception. Begun as a Bible study in 1955, it was the very first church to be organized in a then-undeveloped, suburban area of Birmingham. On September 25, 1960, the church was officially organized, and in 1972 the Briarwood Theological Seminary was chartered. Briarwood’s first sanctuary was erected in 1957. A later sanctuary was completed in 1974; the fellowship hall was built in 1980. Central Presbyterian Church in Birmingham closed after 99 years of service in 1993. Many of its members joined Briarwood Presbyterian and helped to grow Briarwood into an even larger congregation.. In 1988 the church moved to its current campus on Acton Road. Its original campus became the home of

Southeastern Bible College Southeastern Bible College was a private Christian Bible college in Birmingham, Alabama. The school's 22-acre campus was located in the suburbs south of the downtown Birmingham area. It was accredited by the Association for Biblical Higher E ...

and then Mountain Brook Community Church. In 1999, Barker retired after serving as the senior pastor for 40 years, and was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Harry L. Reeder III. Reeder served until he died in a traffic accident on May 18, 2023. Founded in a storefront, it later grew to have what was reported to be the largest church budget in Alabama, and opened a $32 million campus in 1988. In 2011 the expansion of youth project was begun. In 2013 the Children's Auditorium was completed, to allow more space to the growing children's ministries. Originally a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (a predecessor to the present Presbyterian Church (USA)), Briarwood was among some 250 PCUS congregations that became charter members of the

(PCA) in December 1973; the organizational meeting was conducted in Briarwood's sanctuary. The first

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

of the PCA was held in Briarwood’s church building on December 4, 1973. The Birmingham area is a strong pocket of influence for the PCA, with some 15 other PCA congregations located in Jefferson and Shelby counties in addition to Briarwood.

Recent status

Briarwood has a membership of approximately 4,000 and has been responsible for helping form ministries such as Campus Outreach, Christian Medical Ministry, Birmingham Theological Seminary, and Young Business Leaders, as well as planting numerous churches around the world. In 2006, The worship of the church is characterized by a greater formality than in many other evangelical congregations in its area. it was listed as being the 35th-most-influential non-Roman Catholic church in America by "The Church Report". The church organized

Briarwood Christian School Briarwood Christian School is a private school in Birmingham, Alabama. It was founded by Briarwood Presbyterian Church in 1965. In 1970, when integration of the public schools was mandated by the federal government, the IRS began revoking the ta ...

in 1965. The school now has an enrollment of over 1,800 on two campuses and is recognized as being one of the foremost Christian schools in the world. The Worship Center and church campus is located at I-459 and Acton Road. In order to provide protection for over 1,000 students on two campuses at Briarwood Christian School, the church has requested the state government to allow it to set up its own police department, modeled after existing police departments within Alabama colleges and universities. This permission was granted by a law signed by Governor Kay Ivey in June 2019.

Beliefs

Briarwood adheres to the historic Presbyterian confessions: *

Westminster Confession of Faith The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith. Drawn up by the 1646 Westminster Assembly as part of the Westminster Standards to be a confession of the Church of England, it became and remains the "subordinate standard" ...

Westminster Larger Catechism The Westminster Larger Catechism, along with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, is a central catechism of Calvinists in the English tradition throughout the world. History In 1643 when the Long Parliament of England called the Westminster As ...

Westminster Shorter Catechism The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a catechism written in 1646 and 1647 by the Westminster Assembly, a synod of English and Scottish theologians and laymen intended to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Sco ...

Partners

Briarwood is a founding congregation of th
Presbyterian Church in America
The

Christian Reformed Church in South Africa Christian Reformed Church in South Africa is a confessional Calvinist denomination in South Africa. The Church is a denominational member of World Reformed Fellowship. The moderator is Rev. Sakkie Weber, the Vice Moderator is Rev. Johnnie Tromp. ...

has national contact with the Briarwood Church.

References

External links

* {{Megachurches Presbyterian megachurches in the United States Presbyterian Church in America churches in Alabama Churches in Birmingham, Alabama Christian organizations established in 1960 1960 establishments in Alabama Megachurches in Alabama