Welcome to Faith Works – Birmingham, a news site powered by Patch Labs! A message from the Editor.
When the website for Faith Works – Birmingham went live, the first post on the site read, “Faith Works-Birmingham Launches in Jefferson County.” When I read that post, I thought of the recent (July 2021) launches into space by Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, the mega-wealthy men, who, respectively, took a flight to Earth’s outer edge with select others on rockets paid for by their own private companies. After landing safely back on Earth, each newly-minted astronaut expressed the joy and exhilaration they felt in the few moments they traveled just above the Earth’s atmosphere. According to various news reports, the weightlessness, the amazement of being able to see Earth below, and coming face-to-face with the mystery of space, left the travelers in awe. Branson and Bezos shared that traveling to space had been a childhood dream. And now, that dream had become a reality.
It is that same kind of joy and exhilaration I feel with the launch of Faith Works – Birmingham. I have been blessed with many great moments of joy and exhilaration in my life. This particular moment brings to life an idea I had in the late 1990s when I dreamed of launching my own online journal/magazine. Back then, as a writer and as a reporter for WABE 90.1FM, the NPR (National Public Radio) station in Atlanta, Georgia, I could see that we were moving swiftly to consuming much of our reading material online rather than in print. While I had the idea for an online publication, building the infrastructure to launch it always seemed to make the endeavor a no-go.
The beautiful, powerful thing about praying to God is that if you keep praying, trusting, and believing, an answer to your prayer will come.
One day recently while reading the online newsletter, the Mountain Brook Patch, I stumbled upon an article about Patch Labs and its mission to empower local journalists to cover their communities by providing the tools they need to be successful. My Spirit quickened and took a leap of excitement because I felt like this could be an answer to a prayer – my longtime dream of starting an online publication might be able to crystallize – become a reality.
It felt right.
So here I am, starting what I pray will be the premiere source for news and information about the faith community in Birmingham, Alabama. Also, I pray that the site fosters connections across the various faith communities within the larger faith community as we recognize our common goals – and maybe find ways to build a more loving world together.
This site will allow users to share news about their places of worship. It will be a place for news about organizations and institutions who serve or partner with the faith community as well. Additionally, my goal is to feature the section “Living Faithfully,” occasional profiles on people whose lives have been transformed by their faith or who are making a difference in the community through the ways they practice their faith. Plus, the calendar on the site will be a place for publicizing events. I am thankful to God and Patch Labs for the opportunity to share your stories.
Faith Works – Birmingham has launched! While we may not have launched on a super-rocket out of this world, the view from where I sit is just as amazing. I hope you will join me on the journey.
Faithfully yours,
Alvelyn Sanders-Swafford
Reverend Alvelyn Sanders-Swafford is the founder and editor of Faith Works – Birmingham. She is an ordained minister, author, and filmmaker. She serves as the pastor of St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church-Avondale in Birmingham, Alabama, her assignment as an Itinerant Elder in the AME Church. Sanders-Swafford is the author of the book, Lord, Have Mercy: 5 Go-To Prayers When You Need To Pray, But Don’t Know What To Say (See alvelyn.com.). For many years, she served as a contributing reporter for Atlanta’s NPR (National Public Radio) station, WABE 90.1FM. She received an award from the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and a fellowship from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for her work at WABE. As a writer and journalist, her work has appeared in Essence magazine and the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper among other publications. She is the writer, producer, and director of the independent, award-winning documentary, “Foot Soldiers: Class of 1964.” Sanders-Swafford received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, and graduate degrees from Clark Atlanta University and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University. She is married to the Reverend Raymond Swafford, also an Itinerant Elder in the AME Church, who serves as the pastor of Hopewell AME Church – Kingston (Birmingham). She is a native of Atlanta, Georgia.
