Our story
The Church of the Nativity is Huntsville’s fourth oldest church, following First United Methodist (1808), First Presbyterian (1819) and St. Bartley’s Primitive Baptist Church, which is recognized as the oldest African American congregation in the State of Alabama (1820). From 1830 to 1836, services were held sporadically as attempts were made to establish the church as a formal parish. In 1843, the church was organized and formally entered into the Diocese of Alabama. It was given the name “Nativity” because the first official services were held in mid-December, 1842, and Christmas was
approaching.
There have been two Nativity church buildings. The first building stood closer to Greene Street and Eustis Avenue and was completed in 1847. The current building was constructed from 1856 to 1859 to accommodate a growing congregation, and the first service was held on Easter Eve 1859. The two buildings stood together until 1878, when the first building was disassembled and sold to Lakeside Methodist Church on
Jefferson Street.
The inscription Reverence My Sanctuary over the main entrance prevented union soldiers under General Ormsby Mitchel from commandeering the church during their occupation of Huntsville in 1862. A young lieutenant, inspired by the message, suggested that they not turn the church into a stable. Federal troops turned the Methodist Church into a stable instead, and that church burned down in 1864.
