On October 6th we remember the birth of Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, former pastor of St. Paul UMC and Civil Rights icon. Joseph and Evelyn Gibson Lowery are an important part of the connection of St. Paul to the Civil Rights efforts in Birmingham. 

“Born in Huntsville, Alabama, on October 6^th, 1921, Rev. Dr. Lowery’s legacy of service and struggle is long and rich. His genesis as a Civil Rights advocate dates to the early 1950s where, in Mobile, Alabama he headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association; the organization which led the movement to desegregate buses and public accommodations. In 1957, with friend and colleague, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. he was a Co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), where served in an array of leadership positions, including Vice President (1957-67); Chairman of the Board (1967-77); and as President and Chief Executive Officer from (1977-1998).”   Read more at the Lowery Institute

On August 12, 2009 President Barack Obama awarded him the nation’s highest civilian honor: The Presidential Medal of Freedom.“

In the 1960’s Dr. Lowery served as pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, where he completed the upstairs sanctuary, a construction effort started by his father-in-law, Dr. Harry B. Gibson, Sr. 

When in Birmingham, Mrs. Evelyn Gibson Lowery was a part of the St. Paul UMC family. 

Evelyn Gibson Lowery was born in Wichita, Kansas to Reverend Dr. Harry and Mrs. Evelyn Gibson. She found inspiration and commitment to social activism growing up in a home where her parents were involved in the life of the Methodist Church as her father was a Methodist minister. Dr. Harry Gibson was active in civic and community organizations and served as President of the local Memphis NAACP.  

Evelyn Lowery attended Youngstown University and graduated from Clark College. Upon graduation, it was her intention to become a social worker. However, while living in Birmingham, Alabama, she met a young man, Joseph Echols Lowery, who would later enter the ministry under the mentoring of her father. Evelyn and Joseph were joined in marriage on May 5, 1947. To some extent, Mrs. Lowery’s social work training manifested itself in her ministry as a pastor’s wife over the almost seventy years of her marriage, and in the role she would assume in the civil rights movement.” Read more at Lowery Institute

Evelyn Lowery transitioned on September 26, 2013 at the age of 88 and Joseph Lowery transitioned on March 27, 2020. Their work live on.