A Breif History of Church of the Reconciler, UMC 1993-2004

A Breif History of Church of the Reconciler, UMC 1993-2004

 Church of the Reconciler is a new church that was begun as an intentional multicultural/ interracial United Methodist church in June of 1993.  It was started in the Birmingham-East District of the United Methodist Church, North Alabama Conference.  The new church start came out of a district committee that was organized to discuss options for the church’s response to five urban churches closing in the Birmingham area in June of 1993.   I was a member of the committee as pastor of one of the churches that closed.  I served the McCoy United Methodist Church for 9 years. We made a ministry commitment to transforming the older adult white congregation into an interracial urban missional church.  We failed.  We worked with the congregational development staff of GBGM. The congregation financed a doctor of ministry degree for me in urban congregational development.  I did work healing my own racism.  I refer to my self now as a “recovering racist.”  Without this growth and death experience I would not be equipped to deal with the principalities and powers we have confronted in the new church start.

The new church was started to become a middle class  “self-supporting” congregation within 5 years.  The vision was to stay in the city and keep the commitment to a racially inclusive witness by the United Methodist Church in Birmingham.  A prayer-vision group began to develop a mission design statement and gathering strategies for the new community of faith.  To ensure a location that would be in public space that all racial groups would find open and assessable we chose and leased a location in downtown Birmingham.  The Biblical principles modeled by Jesus and the early church of radical hospitality, unguarded gospel and common meal were developed to guide our new church start.  These were chosen to overcome issues of privilege and contamination around race in Birmingham.

Our research and demographics overlooked poverty and class issues. We discovered race and poverty to be deeply connected in Birmingham.  The principles that we had committed to because of racial issues met deep needs in the homeless and working poor.  As one homeless man said, “I was treated as a human being for the first time in years and it built a chain of joy in my life I haven’t known for a long time.”  The common meal became food for the hungry.  And class not race became the overriding issue.  Because we welcomed the homeless we received community opposition and middle class people white and black stayed away.  This slowed our growth and stalled our move to “self-sufficiency.”  We struggled not to abandon our principles.  We decided to know nothing but Jesus and him crucified.  That was and is sufficient.  Many of the homeless are addicted to crack cocaine and are mentally ill.  When people are addicted every thing is up for grabs. Disorder travels with the mentally ill.  We were almost destroyed by the people we welcomed.  Many of our ministries were enabling addiction.  Disorder threatens and drives away the middle class.  We confronted the issue.  Moved to supporting recovery not enabling addiction.  We stayed with our principles and found Jesus sufficient.

The result is we have become a congregation that is in ministry with the poor and marganilized as well as middle class people black and white who love Jesus enough to be a part of an urban missional congregation that is multicultural and interracial.

We now have 223 full, associate and affiliate members.  Ninety of these are full members.  Our racial make up is 70% black, 30% white. We serve 35 youth and children with active programming in the congregation and have an average worship of 80 on Sunday.  We have 4 children and youth classes and 2 adult classes in our School for Urban Christian Living. We serve a common meal to 250 people on Sunday in partnership with many other communities of faith.  Our current budget is $106,000.  We raise approximately $83,000 of this ourselves.  The Annual Conference and district provide the remainder in salary support.  The Annual Conference is expanding the time period of salary support beyond five years by establishing a new missional congregation category for missional congregations.  We are growing in leadership, membership and financial support and are committed and expect to have a 350 + member congregation that is self- supporting in five more years.

 

We have moved from the two storefronts we were leasing in downtown Birmingham at 312-316 North 18^th street in March of 2003.  We are now located at 112 N 14^th Street in a larger and improved facility to serve Birmingham.  In our new facility we have a day program and Life Recovery Center for the homeless community four days a week, Tuesday through Friday 9:00 AM to 12N.  The day program serves 50 to 100 people daily. A breakfast snack is served daily and a clothing closet is available.  Each day life recovery groups are offered for all who desire to participate.  Tuesday a double trouble group is available for persons with dual diagnosis.  Holy Communion is served each Wednesday at 11:00 AM.  The Birmingham Coalition of the Homeless meets each Friday at 10:30 AM.  Members of the Coalition publish a newsletter that shares the reality and issues of the Birmingham streets.  The newsletter is called “Word on the Street.”  The life Recovery Center provides support and networking to access medical  and other services for the homeless community.

 

We have four Covenant partner congregations, Mathewson Street, UMC in Providence RI; Faith Presbyterian Church, Dunedin, FL; Broadway UMC, Chicago, IL and Vestavia Hills, UMC in Birmingham.  They provide much-needed spiritual, volunteer and financial support.

 

R. Lawton Higgs, Sr. Pastor

Church of the Reconciler, UMC

112 N 14^th  Street

PO Box 10931

Birmingham, AL 35202