By Jessica Branch

Christ Church Birmingham, located at in suburban Shelby County on Caldwell Mill Road, is part of the Global Methodist Church. This church offers both “contemporary” and “traditional” services each Sunday. The traditional service is at 8:15 a.m. and the contemporary follows at 10:45 a.m. Christ Church provides a welcoming, reverent, and encouraging atmosphere that allows for people from any walk of life to experience the grace of God if they choose to do so. Like many local Methodist churches, its order of worship is similar to that in the 1939 Methodist Hymnal. It includes the Apostles’ Creed early in the service and has a nice balance of scripture, liturgy, song, and spoken word that provides the congregation with a well-rounded experience. The congregation’s emphasis on missions’ outreach and discipleship also contributes to the development of the global church, not just the individual community.

Service and Space Overview

Staff members involved in the traditional service include the traditional worship and pastoral care minister Bill Tiemann, who conducts the choir and leads the congregation in hymn singing. The head pastor is Matt O’ Reilly. The student minister, Cade Gremillion and the associate pastor of spiritual formation, Mary Lytle are also involved in services by leading certain aspects like the welcome, prayers, announcements, and benediction. All services are livestreamed.

My first impression of the traditional worship space was that it has some more “traditional” elements than the contemporary worship space, but the sanctuary is definitely a blend with more modern architecture. While the structure of worship follows a patterned worship order influenced by tradition, the physical space has more blended characteristics such as projection screens, simpler architecture, and natural light. These mitigate the “overly sophisticated” feel of fully traditional services and bring some familiarity to people who might be intimidated by traditional church settings.

There are many windows, making the space feel more open and bright, but none of them are stained glass with images. A large window is in the center of the sanctuary behind the altar and the altar table contains a large cross making the altar the focal point.The choir sits in between this large cross window and the altar area. The choir is made up of around thirty people, and they do not wear robes. An even smaller orchestra sits right in front of the choir with some members placed slightly to the side. They wear the same business casual attire as the rest of the choir and congregation. The worship leader and head pastor do not wear robes either, but they do wear suits which helps to distinct them from others. What makes this space more modern is the use of almost all beige and grey colors in its construction along with the use of screens, speakers, and some electric instruments. However, an altar table decorated with candles, a bible, a small cross, and on communion Sundays, communion elements, was up front. The wooden altar table was also carved with the words “in remembrance of me,” which coincide with this church’s belief and approach to the Lord’s supper. Right behind the altar is a lectern from which the worship leader and other clergy sing and speak.

There are hymnals at each worshipper’s seat; however, words are also on screen for the congregation to follow. There is also an organ, typical in a “traditional” church atmosphere for the singing of hymns, but the organ is electric therefore there are no visible organ pipes. The worshippers were almost all older and middle-aged people, with the student minister being one of the youngest people in the room. I noticed much interaction among the congregation before and after the service. There are walkways in between the sections of pews and middle section of chairs that divide the congregation into three seating areas and facilitating gathering in conversation groups outside of the worship time. These walkways also made it easy for the congregation to move throughout the space one row at a time per section to receive communion.

Ethos and Fellowship

It was apparent to me while physically present during this service that the Lord was present within the worship space. Leadership welcomed the congregation into the house of the Lord and provided various means of encountering God’s presence through the reading of psalms, singing of hymns, reciting of the Apostles’ Creed, Gloria Patri and the Lord’s Prayer. This church strives for all attendees to develop strong personal faith through his word and teachings so that one might surrender their lives to deeper relationship with him. In turn, they will be a disciple among their community. This connection highlights the Methodist tradition of combining personal faith with a responsibility to serve and uplift the community. Services often include singing hymns, prayers, and readings of scripture creating an atmosphere of worship and reverence. Sermons specifically emphasize the development of personal faith through honesty, confession, repentance, and surrender, so that one may not resist the grace of Jesus. This will then result in true faith and discipleship led by understanding. I could sense the strong sense of fellowship among the congregation which correlates with the emphasis on community in the Methodist tradition.

Congregational participation is encouraged, especially in hymn singing and points of greeting, fostering a sense of belonging and support among members. This is further strengthened through the church’s practice of open communion, common among Methodist churches, inviting all who seek Christ to partake in the Lord’s supper regardless of membership status. Having more blended characteristics of the physical space such as projection screens, simpler architecture, and natural light takes away from the “overly sophisticated” feel of the fully traditional services and brings some familiarity to people who might be intimidated by church.

Overall, despite the generational difference between myself and the congregation, I had a very enjoyable experience at Christ Church Birmingham and felt a meaningful connection to my childhood experience with the Methodist Church.

Christ Church Birmingham
Address: 5091 Caldwell Mill Rd. Birmingham, AL 35242
Services Observed: Sunday Worship 8:15, March 16 (in person), March 2 (online), March 9 (online)
Website: https://www.christchurchbham.com
Video Archives: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristChurchBhamAL/streams
Affiliation: Global Methodist Church
Congregation established: 1973

References

“Christ Church Birmingham.” Christ Church. Last modified 2025. Accessed March 31, 2025. https://www.christchurchbham.com

Ross, Melanie C., and Mark A. Lamport, eds. 2020. Historical Foundations of Worship. Zondervan, 2020.

“Traditional Discipline.” Global Methodist Church. Last modified April 12, 2022. https://globalmethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Transitional-Discipline.2022041257.pdf

Jessica Branch ‘26 was a student in Christian Worship: History & Theology in Samford University’s Department of Biblical and Religious Studies in spring 2025.

Published June 13, 2025.