wfn.org | United Methodist Daily News note 580

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
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Note 580 by UMNS on Jan. 29, 1998 at 18:03 Eastern (3977 characters).

Contact: Joretta Purdue					53(10-71BP)580
    Washington (202)-546-8722		       Jan. 29, 1998

NOTE: Photo available of Mr. Higgs with Board of Church and Society staff on
afternoon before State of the Union address.

United Methodist minister invited
to State of the Union address by White House

WASHINGTON (UMNS) – A call from the White House led a United Methodist
minister from Birmingham, Ala., to the first lady’s box at the State of the
Union Address here Jan. 27. 
The Rev. R. Lawton Higgs Sr., pastor of the Church of the Reconciler, was one
of a dozen special guests who embodied themes of the president’s speech and of
his 1998 agenda which was laid out in the address.
Higgs and two others were chosen because their work reflects the president’s
drive for conversation and understanding on race. Higgs had been suggested by
representatives of two other faith groups for his extensive efforts for racial
harmony.
	At a small White House reception for the Clintons' guests after the address,
Higgs was able to obtain the signatures of both the president and Mrs. Clinton
on the Birmingham Pledge, a promise to work for racial inclusiveness.
	Higgs, who has been active on interracial issues for many years, is
co-chairperson of an interfaith organization of clergy and laity concerned
with race. He is active in Alabama Arise, a group that lobbies the state
legislature on behalf of the poor, and in Greater Birmingham Ministries
through which the churches of the area support a variety of programs.
	Intentionally founded as a multiracial, multicultural church more than four
years ago, the Church of the Reconciler is based on God's love for everyone,
Higgs said. It is housed in two downtown storefronts and has 150 to 200 people
in worship on Sundays. The children's ministry reaches more than 40.
	Most of the children are not supported in church attendance by their parents,
so the church provides transportation as well as loving attention to their
lives. The children who come to the church have improved their grades by a
whole letter – without a tutoring program, Higgs reported.
"We're in ministry with" – Higgs emphasized the word with – "the community in
the city of Birmingham, which includes all of God's children." He went on to
specify that economic status, race and addiction did not take away God's love.
Many of the church's members are homeless, he added.
	Because the homeless are shunned almost everywhere, the congregation almost
became homeless early on, he said. The church's second struggle was with
addiction. As a result, the church practices "radical hospitality" to enable
recovery rather than addiction.
	"The fruits of injustice in Birmingham – as well as in every urban area in
America – are homelessness and poverty and drug addiction," Higgs observed. 
	From the beginning, a common meal has been served immediately after the
Sunday worship "because Jesus was always eating with everybody," Higgs
explained. 
	The church was founded to be a racially inclusive witness on the part of
United Methodists in Birmingham. After a losing struggle to help a
historically white church minister in its African-American community, Higgs
came to believe starting a new congregation that is intentionally interracial
and multicultural would be more effective.
	"Most of the fear about interracial stuff is just that: fear," he said. "If
people would go ahead and move beyond their fear and practice their love for
their neighbor, we'd have a lot better response in our historic churches –
whether black or white -- to become more inclusive."
	For the first year, a prayer and visioning group of 10-12 people met every
Thursday evening and went as a group to different churches, alternating
historical black churches with historical white churches. From their
observations, the group decided to focus on prayer, praise, proclamation and
presentation.
	Extensive telemarketing preceded the first service, attended by about 140
people.

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