About WALIPP
“True greatness is being willing to serve even if the people you serve are at the bottom”
Without Bill Lawson, there would be no WALIPP.
Or a single gender charter school.
Or a comfortable affordable housing complex for senior citizens.
Some see him as the single most important African-American minister in Houston in the last 50 years.
- He pushed for desegregation in Houston-area schools
- If you wanted to get elected or pass a political issue you tried to convince him of the merit of your case
- He founded the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church where he continues to serve as Pastor Emeritus
- He helped form the Coalition for the Homeless and worked tirelessly on issues of poverty and substandard services in Houston
- He pushed for desegregation in Houston-area schools
- With his encouragement, his church organized the largest Boy Scout troop in Houston, well over 125 boys have received the honor of Eagle Scout, the top level in scouting . . . and counting
- He began a program to bring together churches of many denominations to share knowledge and bridge cultural gaps
- He is always available to visit the sick, pray with the bereaved or encourage those in need
- He is self-effacing, humble and accessible (and modest to a fault).
- To serve as a catalyst for unity among varied community groups, institutions, organizations and their leadership;
- To create and support programs that stimulate youth development and leadership skills through mentoring and tutorial programming;
- To identify and implement measures which insure harmony and peace within the communities it serves and prosperity among its constituents;
- To proactively direct the energies and resources of the community it serves and the entities impacting upon those communities through its programs, think tanks, leadership training and education;
- To provide assistance in the coordination of existing and ongoing service organizations established to advance the causes of the homeless, sick, oppressed and other disenfranchised members of our society;
- Guiding Houston’s Community Development Corporations in methods of inner city revitalization and other national trends and programs;
- Assembling Houston’s corporate leadership and minorities to prepare them for issues on race and gender diversity, affirmative action and economic empowerment.
Bill Lawson’s life demonstrates a vision for WALIPP because of its service to those who need us.
Who is William A. Lawson?
Mission Statement
Vision
What is WALIPP?
WHO IS WILLIAM A. LAWSON?
Rev. William Alexander Lawson is the founding Pastor of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church located in Houston, Texas. Established in March 1962 with 13 members, the congregation has grown in excess of 3,500 members. The initial emphasis of the church was to help meet the spiritual needs of Baptists in a transitional community near Texas Southern University, but has become one of the leading Baptist churches in the city of Houston.
Early in his career, Rev. Lawson served as Director of the Baptist Student Union and Professor of Bible at Texas Southern University in Houston. He shared in the formation of the first Afro-American Studies Program at the University of Houston, where he taught classes in Sociology and the Black Church. Rev. Lawson is a community and social action leader. He conceived and organized the United Way’s Houston Homeless Initiative in response to the growing number of homeless and jobless persons. More than $4 million was raised in a four-year period in support of that initiative. He established a service agency, incorporated in the State of Texas to serve community needs of citizens in the inner city, the Central City Comprehensive Community Center. Rev. Lawson created a program to register and mobilize voters in the predominantly African American precincts of the city.
In 1996, a group of friends gifted to Rev. Lawson a non-profit organization called the William A. Lawson Institute for Peace & Prosperity (’WALlPP”), which aims at bridging the gap between the powerful and the powerless. Through this institute, Rev. Lawson has brought attention to a very overgrown cemetery -Olivewood Cemetery - the oldest African American cemetery in the city of Houston; was the conduit that brought together all those businesses and organizations affected by the METRO rail system traveling down Main Street, eventually to be known as The Main Street Coalition; and created a school within the Houston Independent School District - the WALIPP Preparatory Academy - the first charter school for boys grades 6 through 8 in the nation. He is the recipient of the 1991 Silver Beaver Award in support of Scouting. He organized and sponsored the area’s largest and most productive scouting program. In its 35-year history, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church’s troops have produced over 100 Eagles.
Rev. Lawson did his undergraduate work at Tennessee A&I State University, Nashville, Tennessee where he received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, returning to deliver the 1962 Baccalaureate address. He graduated cum laude from Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Kansas where he received the Master of Theology and the Bachelor of Divinity degrees. While there, he majored in New Testament Interpretation and was appointed Teaching Fellow in Homiletics. In 1986 he received an Honorary Doctor of Divinity from Howard Payne University, in Brownwood, Texas; and in 1993, he received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Houston.
Rev. Lawson is married to Audrey H. Lawson. They have four children - Melanie, Cheryl, Eric and Roxanne - and two grandchildren - Robyn and Raven.
OUR MISSION
Bridging the Gap Between the Powerful and the Powerless to Achieve Peace and Prosperity
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VISION
WHAT IS WALIPP?
What is The William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity?
“The next century will be, must be, the century of collaboration, when we all come to realize what Martin knew and what Malcolm was learning. Our mission is about building coalitions.”
Rev. William A. Lawson
Texas Monthly Magazine. February 1993
The William A. Lawson Institute for Peace and Prosperity (WALlPP) is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization, presented to Rev. William A. Lawson in 1996 to commemorate his 50 years in the Ministry. The Institute is designed to promote his vision bridging the gap between the powerless and the powerful to achieve peace and prosperity.
Rev. Lawson is a dedicated servant; an advocate of youth for the development of leadership skills; a defender of the underclass; a bridge-builder between groups and communities and a supporter of community revitalization. These roles are reflected in the direction of the Institute.
Under the tutelage of Pastor Lawson, the Institute brings together communities, institutions and businesses. WALlPP’s dedication provides community enhancement by stimulating, providing and encouraging virtual partnerships, collaborative projects, family and youth enrichment programs, professional training seminars and economic and educational development.
