Hardcore Justice- Methodist Style

A neighbor of mine once said, "Birmingham is a city full of secrets that nobody outside of town knows." While I have seen what she meant as manifested in the area's beautiful mountain ridges, spectacular restaurants, and down-home Southern culture, last week I encountered a negative example of her claim. In fact, to my mind, it must be the dirtiest of those secrets- the inordinate amount of homeless persons that walk the streets of the Birmingham metro area.




Last Thursday, I paid a visit to The Church of the Reconciler, a downtown United Methodist congregation whose mission is specifically to the homeless population in downtown Birmingham. Initially, the congregation was a merger of various United Methodist congregations in the downtown area on the decline. However, the church's mission shifted when the pews slowly began to be filled with more and more homeless. Instead of dreading this shift, the church embraced their new direction. Now they feed, minister to, and worship with hundreds of Birmingham homeless every week. In fact, the demand for their mission was so great that they recently had to purchase a larger facility.

During my visit, I was impressed with the church's pastor, Rev. Kevin Higgs. Kevin is a well-educated and well-spoken pastor who could easily have ascended to a more prestigious pulpit. Instead, he actually requested this specific appointment from the bishop, and embraces his calling to serve Christ with "the least of these" (Mtt. 25). He is sober and realistic about the church's situation, its needs, and its congregants. But I have no doubt that he sees the significance of serving in such a challenging, yet grace-filled, place.

According to Kevin, there are more homeless per capita in Birmingham than anywhere else in the South. In fact, in a metro population of about 1.2 million, there are well over 4,000 (Kevin estimates that it's grown closer to 5,000 since the last homeless census) homeless persons in the Magic City. To find out more about the poverty in the area, click here. And please, as we all seek to serve Christ in the least of these, help us to ensure that this "city of hidden secrets" has a few less dirty ones.