The Cathedral Church of the Advent in Birmingham, Alabama, is the see church of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. On March 30, 1983, the structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Episcopal Church of the Advent. History The parish church of the Advent was established in 1872, one year after the founding of the city of Birmingham, and was one of the first churches built in the new city. The first building on this site was completed in 1873, but was destroyed by fire on November 24, 1892. The current structure was already underway at that date. It was designed by Wheelock, Joy, and Wheelock, was occupied in the fall of 1893, with the tower and portico undergoing construction until 1895. The parish's second rector John Gardner Murray (in office 1896-1903) would later become the first elected presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is known for its prominent location on Twentieth Street North near Linn Park, as well as for the reputation of its music program. It was not until 1982 that the Church of the Advent became a cathedral, when the Diocese of Alabama selected the church as its seat. Today The congregation undertook a major project to preserve the Scioto sandstone exterior of the Cathedral between 1999 and 2005. During this same period the Rector's Garden was redesigned to improve drainage and accommodate a columbarium and the belltower was refitted for a carillon of fifteen bells, cast by Fonderie Paccard of Lac d'Annecy, France. In both 2005 and 2012, readers of the Birmingham News named the cathedral choir "Best Church Choir". Today, the Church of the Advent comprises nearly 4,000 members, making it one of the ten largest Episcopal churches in the United States. For several decades the Advent has been among the more conservative parishes in its diocese. In 2003, the then-dean Paul F. M. Zahl hung a black flag on the cathedral in protest of the election of Gene Robinson as the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church. The parish has also identified itself as being squarely on the Protestant side of the Anglican via media. In 1998 Dean Zahl published The Protestant Face of Anglicanism and around 2018 the parish shifted from the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer to the 1662 English Book of Common Prayer for portions of the liturgy because they more clearly