The Signature on the Blueprint

In 1943, a small congregation in Birmingham, Alabama gathered in a borrowed basement to plan their first church building. They had no architect, no contractor, and exactly forty-seven dollars in their building fund. When a local alderman laughed and told Pastor James Abernathy that his people had no business trying to build anything on Dozier Street, Abernathy unrolled a hand-drawn blueprint on the man's desk and pointed to the bottom corner.…