MIAMI — An intentionally diverse Miami congregation recently celebrated its worship kickoff and is quickly moving toward an official Palm Sunday launch.

Christ’s Community United Methodist Church here, led by the Rev. Jacques Pierre, a native of Haiti, is renting storefront property in North Miami and has built a core group consisting of Anglos, African-Americans, Haitians, Africans, Hispanics and individuals of various Caribbean origins. A total of 165 people attended the church’s Jan. 12 kickoff celebration, most of them from other churches in the area.

Since June 2002 Pierre has led a weekly Bible study and built the church’s core group. His goal has been to assemble an ethnically diverse congregation, hoping to set forth a model for other churches in the conference.

“My experience has been that we have a few churches that have some degree of diversity, but it comes about as a survival hold—some of the churches, in danger of closing, open their doors to the people of the community,” Pierre told “The Review.” “To my knowledge, the Florida Conference has not started a church that is intentionally diverse from the start.”

The Jan. 12 service featured a blend of contemporary and traditional worship music, with the leadership decked out in casual clothing and Pierre offering a sermon he defined as conversational in style. Pierre’s theme was “Crossing the Boundaries,” and utilized Matthew 2:1-2 and Ephesians 3:1-12.

The Matthew verses describe the Magi’s visit to the infant Jesus, which Pierre asserts was the first step of “the gospel crossing boundaries,” since the Magi were Gentiles rather than Jews. The text from Ephesians is the Apostle Paul demonstrating to the Gentiles that the gospel reaching them has not been a second thought, but always part of God’s plan, Pierre said.

“The analogy we have from this is Christ’s Community is called by God, by Christ, to cross boundaries placed by race, ethnicity and class, to reach out to the community as a whole. We are called to build bridges,” Pierre said.

Pierre described the Jan. 12 event as a “baby shower,” adding, “The baby has not been born yet. We are in the labor process. By the grace of God, we hope to give birth on April 13, Palm Sunday.”

Numerous conference leaders will assemble for the official launch that day, which will be preceded by an intense door-to-door effort designed to make the community more aware of the church’s presence. The church has contracted with California-based Outreach Marketing, a popular tool for church planters, to create door hangers and direct mail pieces. Gift baskets will be distributed to neighborhood residents as well.

The church’s current location is in the midst of a neighborhood where 16 percent of the population is Anglo, 23 percent Hispanic and, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, 56 percent African-American. Pierre, however, claims the church’s personal survey and observations of North Miami’s political makeup more accurately describe the 56 percent as Haitian.

To better serve the community, Pierre launched a French language service Jan. 26, which will take place each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. An English-speaking service follows at 11 a.m. A French language Bible study will also take place Friday evenings, in addition to an existing Sunday evening English-speaking Bible study.

Pierre’s own background is a diverse one. After graduating from Candler School of Theology in 1998, he was appointed to an Anglo congregation, Lakeland’s Highlands United Methodist Church. He then served a Haitian congregation in Miami, Primitive Maranatha Mission. While a student in Atlanta, Pierre was associate pastor at an African-American congregation, Amanda Flipper A.M.E. Pierre moved to the United States from Haiti in 1992.

Currently working on a Ph.D. in adult education and theology through a satellite campus of Union Institute and University, Pierre describes his new church start as “a mixture of fear and excitement.”