Black Pastor Reveals Shift Of Attitude in Birmingham
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Delivering his inaugural sermon as senior pastor at Huffman United Methodist
Church here, the Rev. Charles Lee was trying to explain what lay behind the
choice to follow Jesus. ''That ain't no easy decision,'' Mr. Lee said.
The pastor then adjusted his grammar and his dialect. ''That is no simple
decision,'' he said.
Mr. Lee, a 56-year-old native of Georgiana, Ala., is the first black pastor
at Huffman, a predominantly white church in a Birmingham neighborhood that is
rapidly gaining black residents.
The congregation has about 1,500 members, all of them white except for those
in 12 black families. To try to ensure that the church continues to thrive in
this transitional area, Methodist officials in Alabama said they concluded that
an exceptional pastor like Mr. Lee could attract new black families and retain
Huffman's tightly knit white members.
The strategy is not without risk in a city where involuntary integration was
once met with fierce resistance.
''This is forward moving,'' Mr. Lee said. ''When you think back on the days
of dogs and fire hoses and then you think of a black pastoring white people,
that is quite progressive.''
Jim Nash, a 70-year-old church member, said that Mr. Lee's preaching style
was livelier than that of his white predecessor. But Mr. Nash, a retiree, said
that did not mean that one approach was better than another, and that he
believed Mr. Lee would strengthen the church.
The Rev. Bill Morgan, the United Methodist district superintendent for
Eastern Birmingham, said he believed that Huffman had the right ingredients for
integrating successfully: a strong and progressive church, a large black
population in surrounding areas and a sensitive and experienced pastor.
Mr. Lee is confident that he is up to the task. Huffman is not the first
white congregation he has led. In 1994 he became senior pastor of Christ Church
United Methodist, an all-white congregation in the Birmingham suburbs of Shelby
County, where he served for seven years.
While the demographics of Shelby County did not leave much room for
integration, those surrounding Huffman seem ideal. And most people in leadership
positions at Huffman are relatively young and open to the effort to encourage
integration by assigning Mr. Lee, Mr. Morgan said.
On Sunday, Mr. Lee preached in a deep, rich voice that washed over the 350
people in the audience. The crowd, including a few blacks, sat attentively as
his words echoed through the church.
In his 30-minute sermon, Mr. Lee introduced his new parishioners to the call
and response style that has become a staple of the modern black church.
On Sunday, the church's white members seemed completely accepting of Mr. Lee
and his style, and some said they viewed his appointment as a reflection of the
changes that had come to their state.
''I am not proud of what went on in Alabama,'' said Hardy Moore, a
44-year-old photographer and church member since 1994. ''I am thrilled to have
this man. It is going to be a good and interesting time for this church.''
But as Mr. Lee, who is black, looked out over a sanctuary filled with
white faces, he caught himself. ''Oh,'' he said with a wry grin. ''I've got to
remember I'm at Huffman.''
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