Ministering to the Minds
The Birmingham Times
by Bruce Womack

Take one pastor with vision and patience, mix in a city councilman dedicated to helping his constituents. Add a corporate sponsorship willing to be a community supporter, then toss in about 30 responsive students with a computer lab and you have a formula for success.

That is the formula that Reverend Lee of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church used to develop an after school tutorial ministry for children in Birmingham's Eastlake community. A project committed to the needs and continued development of the children and youth in his church's community.

Seeking ways to reach the people in the community, Pastor-Developer Reverend Lee and his followers founded Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, an Afro-centric, Liberation-oriented, Christian Faith Community in early 1997 in Eastlake, and began its outreach movements.

"This tutorial ministry program is a direct result of our church's efforts to become more involved in the livers and education of children in our community," said Reverend Lee. "Our worshippers are dedicated to this community and we determined that lots of children in this area are unsupervised on the streets."

"The tutorial program gives the youth a safe place to meet with adult supervision and provides them with opportunities to learn computer skills and help them in doing homework assignments and other school projects."

The tutorial program, involves adult volunteers, and has about 30 children, from preschool to high school and meets every Tuesday and Thursday evening form 6-8 p.m. It has local school support and is in partnership with five school in the area, Banks, Berry, Curry, Gate City and Robinson schools.

Reverend Lee credits part of the success of this project to the endeavors of Councilman Bill Johnson of District 2 and a AMR's Willingness to be a community supporter.

Reverend Lee was able to secure sponsorship to purchase a computer system. for the tutorial program after a meeting with Victoria Howell, Director of Government Affairs and Community Education at AMR and Councilman Johnson.

"AMR is an advocate of children and believes that businesses should have sense of responsibility to promote and sponsor programs like this," said Ms. Howell. "Reverend Lee's outreach program designed to reach children in his community, focusing on their needs and continued development is too important to overlook."

"AMR works closely with community, school and governmental leaders to foster programs that help children succeed in school.