Brown Chapel A.M.E Church in Selma will be seeing long-awaited renovations this year, with a tentative reopening date set for March 2026.
The building was constructed and designed in 1908 by A. J. Farley, a formerly enslaved builder and designer. During the civil rights movement, the church served as a meeting place for the foot soldiers on Bloody Sunday before the Selma to Montgomery March, as well as a refuge from the violence that ensued. Despite its historical significance and the fact that its congregation still gathers, the church has been closed for the past three and a half years.
Brent Leggs, the executive director of African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund said that the organization is investing $1 million into the repair and restoration of Brown Chapel A.M.E Church. He said this investment will take the church from “vacancy to restoration,” and make it into a “permanent testimony” to the role it played in the civil rights movement.
“Historic places have the power to connect us to our past,” Leggs said. “They can impact our lives in the present and even shape our future. …During that period [the early 1960’s], civil rights activists organized, protested, and elevated racial injustice from a Southern issue to a pressing national issue. … Alabama’s Black churches stood at the center of all of that.”
The planned restorative efforts include structural repairs; putting a new roof, kitchen and ADA compliant restrooms in the Fellowship Hall; restoring historic finishes in the sanctuary as well as bolstering the seating and flooring; and refreshing the doors and windows.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, a Selma, Alabama native, said that Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church is significant to her, as it was her home church growing up, where she memorized her first speech as a Girl Scout. She also said that the larger history of Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church alone cements it as a cornerstone of American history.
“Today the eyes of the world are upon Selma,” Sewell said. “Today is an opportunity not only to remember the history, but to preserve it for future generations, and any commemoration of Bloody Sunday would not be complete without Brown Chapel AME Church. … The history of Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church is sacred, and I believe it is our duty — all of our duty — as custodians of history, to ensure that it is preserved for future generations.”
In addition to The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund’s contribution of $1 million, Leggs said the National Park Service has agreed to match the funds they raise — but only if they make it to $1.5 million. Leggs said that the plans they have made for the renovation are currently under review by the NPS.
“The only thing we’re waiting on is a generous American to fill our $500,000 gap,” Leggs said.
Brown Chapel A.M.E Church pastor Leodis Strong said there’s a good chance that the congregation will be back in the historic church next March.
“If I didn’t have a bad hip and two bad knees, I’d do a holy dance right now,” Strong told the congregation with a smile.
Sarah Clifton covers business for the Montgomery Advertiser. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her on X @sarahgclifton.
