Pastor Mark Correll, who revived Cathedral of the Cross, dies at 70

When the Rev. Mark Correll became pastor of Cathedral of the Cross in 1993, he inherited a mostly empty 8,000-seat church in Center Point and a $14 million debt.

Correll quickly built back the membership and paid off bondholders over the next three years, taking the church out of bankruptcy.

By the time Correll preached his last sermon as senior pastor at Cathedral of the Cross in 2007, the church had weekly attendance of 3,500 and was one of the largest Assembly of God congregations in the nation.

Correll died on Monday, March 18, after battling cancer and COVID-19. He was 70.

Correll, who had an accounting degree from Pennsylvania State University and worked as a controller for a printing company for 10 years, had a financial as well as spiritual mandate.

‘‘It was surprising to see the full extent of the debt,‘’ Correll recalled in a 2007 interview with The Birmingham News about his arrival at Cathedral of the Cross. ‘’When I got here, they had $750 in the bank and couldn’t meet payroll.‘’

In 2007, Correll stepped down as senior pastor of Cathedral of the Cross to become an international evangelist with plans to set up an Assemblies of God college branch in Israel.

But he soon found out he had Stage IV cancer.

Correll and Sheryl, his wife of 49 years, traveled extensively. Correll took mission trips to Romania, Jamaica, Russia and Zaire, and visited Israel at least 32 times.

Correll promoted support of Israel at Cathedral of the Cross. ‘’We’ve been a pro-Israel church,” he said in 2007. “We fly an Israeli flag.‘’

Correll was born Sept. 28, 1954, in Hazleton, Pa., was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy in his youth.

Correll gave up his business career to become senior pastor at Bellwood (Pa.) Assembly of God in 1988, then moved to Parkway Christian Fellowship in Huffman in 1990 to succeed founder Bob Smith as senior pastor.

Then Correll was tapped to salvage Cathedral of the Cross from a financial mess. The church used bond sales to build the largest capacity sanctuary in the Birmingham area, and bondholders were threatening to foreclose.

Correll said he insisted that everyone owed money was paid back in full, with interest, even though that wasn’t required as part of the bankruptcy. ‘’That established our name back in the community,‘’ he said.

The attendance had dwindled at that point so that there were only 205 members who voted on calling Correll as pastor. A curtain had been drawn around the center pews of the church so that only 500 seats were showing.

Correll removed the curtain and eventually people began to fill the empty seats.

‘‘It’s going to be emotional,” Correll said as he left Cathedral of the Cross. “I’ve buried their loved ones, married their kids.‘’

Correll also prided himself on establishing a truly integrated congregation at Cathedral of the Cross.

‘‘We are a multiracial church, one of the largest multiracial churches in the area,‘’ he said in 2007. ‘’It’s about 50-50, black and white. It’s not an issue here whether someone’s white or black. I tried to preach and teach and love people.‘’

In 2011, a predominantly Black denomination, the Apostolic Overcoming Holy Church of God, bought the Cathedral of the Cross campus in Center Point and made it the headquarters of the international Pentecostal denomination. The AOH was founded in Mobile in 1920 as the Ethiopian Overcoming Holy Church of God. The headquarters moved to Birmingham in 1973.

A memorial service for Correll is planned for March 24 at 3 p.m. at Metropolitan Church of God in Birmingham, with visitation beginning at 1 p.m.