Church on the Bluff to celebrate 125th anniversary this weekend

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The Church on the Bluff in Bluff Park is celebrating its 125th anniversary this weekend.

The festivities begin with an old-fashioned ice cream social at the church at 2 p.m. Saturday, and the main celebration will be during the 10 a.m. Sunday worship service.

Mark Busby, a former youth minister at the church who now is a missionary serving Japan, will be back as the main speaker in the Sunday service, said Tony Barber, who has been pastor there for the past 17 years.

Representatives from the Alabama Baptist State Historical Commission and Birmingham Metro Baptist Association also are expected to be present.

The church is having a covered dish luncheon after the Sunday morning service.

The Church on the Bluff previously was known as Bluff Park Baptist Church, but the church changed its name in 2018 to let people know that everyone is welcome there and not just Baptists, Barber said. The church still has the same beliefs and is still affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, he said.

Barber jokingly calls the church a MEGA church, meaning “most if not entirely geriatric adults.” Like many churches, attendance declined during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Barber said. However, the Church on the Bluff has picked up two to four families (mostly older couples) since the pandemic ended, he said. Average attendance is about 60 for Sunday morning worship, he said.

For more information about the church, go to churchonthebluff.org or call 205-822-3240.