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“Make for me a sanctuary and I shall dwell among them.”
-Exodus 25:8
WELCOME
TO THE
HALLELUJAH
TRAIL!
This trail’s thirty-two churches stand as landmarks in North Alabama and provide welcome and shelter for all who enter regardless of belief. Each church is at least 100 years old, on its original site, and is still holding services today. The trail winds its way through sixteen counties in North Alabama.
These churches define the heart of North Alabama’s rich and diverse cultural and spiritual heritage. Each church being born of need and built from the materials at hand.
Houses of worship cause us to pause, to reflect, and to witness the most important events in our lives: birth, marriage, and death. Each of these churches has a story to tell. One can never know a church too well, for each time one visits one discovers new things.
Some churches have been designed by experienced architects and some have been designed and constructed by church members who simply “felt the calling.” Many church interiors appear of simple designs, but know that the members feel everyday life must be recounted with gentle grace and perfect balance. Services continue to be marked by singing, storytelling and communal good cheer.
 Several white painted timber-framed churches are nestled in quiet surroundings, standing as testimonies to those who wished to create a place of silence, of prayer, and of spiritual joy. Others can be found in serene locations, open on three sides, married to the woodlands with only a single room. Like the forest, each church has its atmosphere, its fragrance, its light and its shadow. With some, sturdy benches and a simple wooden pulpit are the sole furnishings.
The stained glass windows are breathtaking. They become warmer and vibrant with the sun’s light... filling sanctuaries with colorful prisms. Beautiful gothic, cathedral-like structures are truly great wonders of art.
Tall elegant steeples rise into the sky bringing one closer to the heavens. Many interiors of these gothic wonders are beyond human description.
What has been most intriguing about this adventure has been the devotion people feel for their churches, whether a grand gothic edifice or a simple clapboard building.
Let there always be quiet churches in which people can take refuge…Houses filled with His silent presence. There, even when they do not know how to pray, at least they can be still and breathe easily.”
-Thomas Merton
New Seeds of Contemplation 1961
Whether you choose to visit one, ten or thirty-two churches on the Trail, we wish you a good and safe trip. It is our hope you will come back often.
The Hallelujah Trail was made possible by grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission, the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel, and the Alabama Mountain Lakes Tourist Association.
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