Rev. Dr. W. Taft Harris Jr.: Birmingham Native Opening the Doors of the Church for All

By Javacia Harris Bowser | The Birmingham Times 

Not many churches can trace their origins to a karaoke night, but that’s exactly how The Tabernacle Fellowship of Birmingham, pastored by the Rev. Dr. W. Taft Harris, Jr., began. The Tabernacle Fellowship of Birmingham identifies itself as Alabama’s only Black church that is openly LGBTQIA+-affirming while intentionally worshipping from the historic Black Church experience. On Sunday, August 2, “The Tab,” as the church is affectionately called by parishioners, will celebrate its second church anniversary.

“This anniversary is more than a celebration,” Harris said. “It is a testament to the enduring power of the Black Church to evolve while remaining faithful to its deepest calling.”

The Tabernacle Fellowship of Birmingham meets on the first Sunday of each month at Divine Grace Studios. Services are also streamed online, and Harris uses social media to bring uplifting messages throughout the month.

“I am unapologetic about my queerness, my Blackness, my love for God, and I’m unapologetic about the fact that there is a power and a presence and a spirit in the Black church worship experience that cannot be duplicated anywhere else,” Harris said.

Music and Ministry

About 5 years ago, when Harris lived in Houston, Texas, he got the idea to mix music and ministry in an unconventional way.

I was literally sitting one day listening to music because I love I’m a musician, so I love music, and I found myself after each song using the song as sacred text. This

“I knew there had to be another way to reach people who were unchurched, overchurched, or just didn’t want to go to church, but needed some kind of spiritual grounding,” Harris said. “That grounding – they were yearning for it, but the ways available to them were so traditional and so orthodox that they would not be accepting or receiving of those.”

Harris, who is a musician, said one day he was sitting listening to music and was able to find spiritual messages in each song.

“I found myself after each song using the song as sacred text,” he recalled.

From there, he got the idea to host a karaoke night and do mini-sermons after each performance, using the songs as inspiration for his messages.

He tried out the idea at a Black-owned bar in Houston.

“People came, and it grew, and it grew,” Harris said. “And then I decided I need to not just do this here. I want to go to all of my communities.”

He hosted events in St. Louis, Missouri, where he had attended seminary. He hosted in New York and Atlanta, where many of his friends lived.

“Then I said, let’s go home to Birmingham, Alabama,” Harris said.

About three years ago, he brought this concept to Birmingham, and people showed up here too.

“Some radical people showed up to these spaces, not knowing what to expect,” he said. “But if they sang the karaoke song, I would give three points after, using the karaoke song as the sacred text. Give them three points to survive life by, to make it through the week, to enlighten them, to enrich them, and to encourage them, and I would do it in three minutes.”

One night, people showed up, but no one signed up for karaoke. Someone in the crowd shouted out, “Maybe you’re just supposed to preach to the people.”

Reluctantly, Harris pulled up some scripture on his phone and began to deliver a message.

“I started talking to the people while they smoked, while they drank, while they had a good time, and nobody moved,” he recalled. Everyone stayed and listened.

And soon after, The Tabernacle Fellowship of Birmingham was born.

Anointed. Accepted. Affirmed.

Officially launched in July 2024, The Tabernacle Fellowship was founded on the belief that “Every person bears the image of God and deserves to experience the unconditional love, liberating justice, and radical hospitality of Jesus Christ.”

Harris summarizes the church’s theology this way: “Anointed. Accepted. Affirmed.”

Harris asserts that the Tabernacle Fellowship is not departing from the historic Black Church tradition but is continuing it.

“Our ancestors built churches that became places of freedom when the world denied Black people dignity,” Harris said. “They created communities where faith became resistance, hope became action, and worship became a declaration that Black lives mattered because God said so. We believe the Church still has that calling today. We are simply extending that freedom to everyone God loves. At The Tabernacle Fellowship, every person is ‘Anointed. Accepted. Affirmed.’”

Just as previous generations of Black churches confronted slavery, segregation, disenfranchisement, poverty, and injustice, Harris believes today’s Black churches must faithfully engage all oppressed groups and learn about the realities facing those marginalized because of sexual orientation, gender identity, incarceration, poverty, mental health challenges, or other life circumstances.

“When I talk about inclusion, my vision of inclusion goes beyond just sexuality,” Harris said. “It is welcoming everybody – for real.”

Harris said many churches that claim to be open for all fall short when it comes to living out the message of “Come as you are.”

“What they usually mean is ‘Come as you are until we decide who you should become,’” Harris said.

But the invitation at the Tabernacle Fellowship of Birmingham is different, Harris said.  “Come as you are, because God already knows who you are.”

Churches don’t get to choose which marginalized groups they will serve, he added.

“I cannot take the scripture and pick who it serves and pick what group of oppressed people it speaks to,” Harris said. “I can’t say this group of oppressed people over here is okay to be a part of the church, then exclude the LGBTQIA community. [Other churches] often exclude those who have been incarcerated. They often exclude or ridicule the mother with five children by five men.”

The Fabric of the Black Church

A proud Birmingham native, Harris attended Tuggle Elementary, the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and A.H. Parker High School before heading to seminary. He attended Birmingham’s Southeastern Bible College and Birmingham Baptist Bible College, as well as Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis and Southwest Theological Seminary in Texas.

Harris said he felt the call to ministry early in life.

“I preached my first sermon at the age of 10 at New Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Fountain Heights,” Harris shared. “The topic of my first sermon was John chapter 14: ‘Let not your heart be troubled. You that believe in God, believe also in me.’ The topic was, ‘Don’t worry, be happy.’”

Harris shared that, surprisingly, he has been well accepted in most faith communities he’s been a part of through the years.

“I don’t have a horror story surrounding me walking in my freedom and loving God and being His preacher and being called and carrying my own theological and spiritual conviction that I live out as a member of the LGBTQIA community,” he said.

Harris believes that the LGBTQIA community is vital to the Black church just as it was to the civil rights movement and the Black Arts Movement.

“The Black Church has always known the presence of Black gay queer people,” he said. “You’re going to find some person who is same gender loving, homosexual, lesbian, in the fabric of the success of the church. Whether it’s the ministry of music or whether it’s Christian education, you’re going to find them there. That is parallel to finding Bayard Rustin as the architect of the 1963 March on Washington. That is parallel to finding James Baldwin telling America the truth through his work and Audre Lorde telling us that silence can never be a place of neutrality.”

Celebrating Two Years

On August 2, the Tabernacle Fellowship of Birmingham will mark its second church anniversary. The celebration kicks off at 2 p.m. with a DJ, a comedian and refreshments.

“We’re gonna be having a good time, more like a fellowship and a good old gospel networking,” Harris said.

At 3 p.m., there will be a traditional Black worship service followed by a message from Harris.

As Harris looks back and looks forward, his focus remains the same: “proclaiming the liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ while embracing the rich worship traditions of the historic Black Church and extending radical welcome to those who have too often been excluded from it.”

To learn more about the Tabernacle Fellowship of Birmingham, visit thetabfellowship.org.