Missions & Outreach Blog

Outreach Spotlight: Church of the Reconciler

Oct. 24, 2007 Dave Barnhart

Would you like to help Birmingham’s homeless? You can, by joining others at Trinity and becoming involved in the work of the Church of the Reconciler in downtown Birmingham. The Church of the Reconciler is a United Methodist congregation with a unique mission. This church began its ministry in 1993 with a goal of confronting racism in the city and as a way of bringing black and white citizens together in worship. It is a multicultural, multiracial congregation where everyone is welcomed. Because of the needs of the community it serves, the church over the years has evolved towards helping the poor. The church building is a renovated warehouse in downtown Birmingham. Rev. Kevin Higgs, the current pastor and son of founding pastor Rev. Lawton Higgs, has said that the church has the largest door of any church anywhere because it is a warehouse door and when it is opened up, all are welcomed.

The church provides a place of Sunday worship, Sunday School classes for both adults and children, and a midweek worship service. It also has a number of programs in place to address the needs of the people who worship there. There are support programs during the week for those dealing with mental illness and addiction and tutoring programs for children from housing projects nearby.

Because almost half of the congregation is homeless, the church, with help from congregations of other churches in the city, serves a meal on Sunday as well as meals on 4 other days of the week. Groups and individuals at Trinity have prepared and served the Thursday morning meal weekly for a number of years.

Trinity supports the work of the Church of the Reconciler in many ways, through preparing and serving meals to up to 125 homeless individuals weekly, contributions to food drives, individual donations of service or money for special projects and to sustain the overall church budget. Your help is needed in all of these projects but especially in assisting others who are providing the weekly meals at the church.  If you or your group is interested, please contact David Miller or Dave Barnhart. 

Click here or here for a couple of interesting articles on the Church of the Reconciler.

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