Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07) spoke on the House Floor to honor the extraordinary life and legacy of civil rights icon and beloved Birmingham pastor, Bishop Calvin Woods, Sr., who passed away on August 16, 2025 at the age of 91.

Watch it on YouTube here.

Rep. Sewell: Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the extraordinary life and legacy of a civil rights icon and a beloved Birmingham pastor, Bishop Calvin Woods, Sr., who passed away on August 16, 2025, at the age of 91.

Bishop Woods was a cherished member of the Birmingham community whose moral leadership served as a guiding light during the Civil Rights Movement and beyond.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Bishop Woods attended Parker High School before earning his bachelor’s degree from Miles College. He went on to complete several more degrees at the Universal Bible Institute and Union Baptist Seminary as well as the School of Truth. 

In 1956, Bishop Woods began his nearly six decades of involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, co-founding the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights alongside his brother, Reverend Abraham Woods, and the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth.

Bishop Woods worked closely with Dr. Martin Luther King and participated in numerous civil rights demonstrations, including the Birmingham Campaign and the 1963 March on Washington. Following the shooting of five African American protestors at a Birmingham supermarket, Bishop Woods planned public protests and later filed a lawsuit challenging the unjust suspension of school children for demonstrating against segregation. 

Despite being beaten, arrested, fined, and imprisoned, Bishop Woods was never afraid to stand up for what he believed was right.

As a result of his fearless advocacy, he was appointed by Dr. King as an SCLC City Convener for the Birmingham Ministers Leadership Conference.

Bishop Woods was a devoted man of faith whose love for his family and his community was unmatched. He spent more than three decades as the Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Birmingham and held numerous leadership roles in the community.

He served as a board member of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and a member of the National Baptist Convention Board of Directors.

In 2006, Bishop Woods was named President of the Birmingham SCLC, and one year later, he became the President of the New Era Baptist State Convention. 

Madam Speaker, on a personal note, I am forever grateful for the sacrifices that Bishop Woods made in the name of equality and justice for all. He stands as a testament to the power of ordinary Americans to achieve extraordinary social change. I know that I get to walk the halls of Congress as Alabama’s first Black Congresswoman because of his courageous efforts.

The City of Birmingham, the State of Alabama, and our entire nation are indebted to him for his tireless fight to end segregation.

On behalf of Alabama’s 7th Congressional District, I ask my colleagues to join me in celebrating the extraordinary life and legacy of Bishop Calvin Woods, Sr. 

May he Rest in Peace, and may his legacy live on in the lives that he touched and the change that he sparked.

###