My church has been abuzz, of late, about “The Homeless Problem”. Many don’t want them hanging around our property. We feed them on Sunday mornings, and to many in our congregation that’s too much. Let’s keep them away the rest of the week! They scare us.
I’m committed to helping our homeless. I am a staunch supporter of our Sunday Breakfast Ministry. I prepare meals, at my own expense for up to 60 one Sunday each month. I’ve done it two Sundays a month when the need was present. I feel strongly about the rightness of this ministry, at almost all cost to all other ministry in our church. I feel so strongly about it that if the congregation ever decides to terminate the ministry, I may have to leave the congregation.
Why? Frankly, the homeless scare me, a little, too. I’m relatively shy, an introvert, I don’t talk easily with folks I don’t know and can’t relate to well. My ministry to these folks is two-fold. I cook their breakfast one Sunday a month. And I stand in the food line serving them and doing what comes natural to me… I pay them respect. Each scoop of eggs or ham or bacon or whatever comes with a “Good Morning, Sir! Thank you for joining us today!” Or, “Good Morning, Ma’am! It’s a pleasure to see you!” They’re human beings, and they deserve common courtesy as much as the VP of my division at work. PErhaps more.
Why am I so devoted to this ministry? Perhaps it’s because I come more and more to embrace the words of Peter:
9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,£ in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
I remember my bishop (RCC) referring to gays as “faggots”. I recall the numerous condemnations of me as a gay person put out by the Vatican. I hear the sneering attacks on my humanity by major, national evangelists… you know the ones. I have seen people turned away at churches, told they are not welcome, not wanted, unloved. I have seen those who have been graced by a gracious God, turn away those they disapprove of, in acts of utter UNgraciousness and even cruelty.
Once I wasn’t anything. But then I discovered that not only am I something very important, someONE very important, but I learned to accept that my God made me who I am, and I am Chosen, a royal priesthood, once I didn’t matter, but now I realize I AM part of a people, still scorned by the churches, I’ve received mercy at my loving Parent’s hand. I AM somebody.
How foolish, then, and how ungrateful, could I be as to turn away ANY of God’s people because they don’t conform to societal norms. Because, for whatever reason, they have found themselves destitute and bereft?
So, no, I don’t think we have a homeless problem at my church. We have, in our pastor’s words “a homeless situation”… more to the point, perhaps, we have a homeless opportunity.
An opportunity to share the love that has been given us unconditionally by our Parent with others who need that love just as much as we do – maybe, no PROBABLY, more than we do.
On The Road II 
We have that problem here, and there are several ministries that go out and feed the homeless in trucks “daily” the roving soup kitchens, the park hoppers and the ministry towards the native peoples who sit in the park just a stones throw from my building. They circle like vultures at our AA meetings for coffee and cookies each night on the strip downtown. In Montreal we have several “missions” that house and feed the homeless, the sad thing is, that people won’t go to the missions to stay or share because of the violence factor at the missions. it is dangerous. We have many “young” homeless boys and girls that walk the streets and we are powerless to change that because that is what they choose to do. So I try and feed at least one with a meal instead of giving them money. drugs and alcohol are ruining our homeless populations. It is a “social problem” here that the city is in constant turmoil over, some say get rid of them, others do their best to feed and take care of them, and the rest don’t give a shit. In the Winter it gets very dangerous, to the point that the missions send put busses to take them off the streets to house and feed them when the temps drop dangerously low. Homeless people are a challenge in any terms, because they get mouthy, then they get drunk or high and then they become too dangerous to deal with. I have seen this with my own eyes. Serving all of Gods creations IS what we should do, but in the end, how many of them will be rehabilitated off the streets into a life of success? the numbers are too low to notice. It is a sad reality. We can feed them till kingdom come, and people own the right to be scared, i’ve seen homeless people attack innocent travelers on the street on a bad day. Someone has to do it, because not many will take up that responsibility. But what can you do when there are so many out there, who do not want to leave the street because they know nothing different? I commend your actions, but, at the end of the day, if you feed a stray animal they will continue to return for more, as long as its available. They know the food will be there, so they come back, and this knowledge may spark division within your community, so you need to consider the life of your community versus the feeding of the homeless. I know you feel deeply about this, but IS it affecting change or perpetuating a long standing problem that may only continue and get worse? If a community is fearing for their lives versus coming to church you have to take a look at the “bigger picture” and decide when enough is enough! It’s not a very christian thought, but it is something that I highly suggest. Lobby your city to try and deal with this problem on a citywide scale. single missionaries with a zeal to help a multitude of homeless when the numbers are rising weekly, could spell problems for you in the long run, as you have stated about ending the Sunday Ministry. What is more important to you, ministering to your congregation or feeding the poor? I know you want to do both, but can you successfully preach by action and affect change within your community? to get them to step up and be counted along with you? lesser man would be afraid to be seen “ministering” to the poor, God forbid, they be seen by their peers. You know as well as I do that some christian can talk the talk, but when it comes to walking the walk and talking the talk, mere man will fail. be careful in your decisions and think about the greater consequences to your future decisions.We cannot feed and house the entire population of homeless in any city, THIS problem IS a city wide problem all over the world, you are not alone in your frustration. We are facing that problem here.Many meetings in Montreal had to stop furnishing food because the homeless people were outnumbering the attendees, and they feared for their lives it gets worse in the winter. Many groups made concerted efforts to ban homeless from their meetings because they were not “helping” the recovery process for some. That happened in my home group when a homeless man came in and acosted one of the women then pissed himself as he sat there, that damned my home group and we still cannot live that night down. Be careful who you give your loyalty to. It may be your own undoing. But I know what Jesus would do and say, at this moment, and I agree, but in the end, can we do this to the degree that change occurs? And when do we say, i’ve invested too much of myself into a problem that will only continue to get worse, and in the dead of winter will you still be sitting out front feeding them in the snow???Be careful journeyman. Do the right thing, but don’t get blinded by your zeal to be Jesus. That IS a tall order !! Jesus is not a half measures kind of man. I know how to pick my battles wisely. Jer.
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