What is your church doing to help the homeless? (and why aren’t you demanding that they do more?)
Lately, a thought has been sticking with me that I can’t seem to shake: With the growing number of people living and suffering on our streets, why aren’t our churches, synagogues and mosques opening their doors to serve as shelters and navigation centers for the un-housed?
A central message of all major religions is that humanity should do all that it can to help the poor. So why are we allowing our religious institutions — who occupy significant, underutilized, prime real estate and square footage in virtually every single California neighborhood (tax free) — to stand on the sidelines while we work to bring emergency shelter to the homeless and struggle to serve the poorest among us?
In San Francisco, there’s a church in every neighborhood; a dozen in Pacific Heights alone. If each of our city’s churches opened it’s doors for the unhoused — even for just a handful of hours each day- it would make a significant difference for our community and for those in desperate need of safe, uninterrupted rest. And let’s not forget about the opportunity these same institutions have to step up and provide rest rooms, showers or other basic human services to those in need, using their existing infrastructure.
And before you even say it — No, blaming “failed government” is not an excuse for a church communities own inaction. Government can’t solve this complex problem entirely on it’s own…at least not for now. And many elected officials are desperately trying to build emergency shelters and navigation centers, but bureaucracy, red tape, local governments, special political interests, “NIMBYs” and other community elitists block these efforts from making the necessary impact. Stating that government should be doing more does not abdicate our religious communities from their own moral responsibility to serve the poor.
Jesus Christ was one of the worlds greatest humanitarians. And a major message of the New Testament and Jesus is that humanity should do everything that we can to serve and help the poor. The many quotes attributed to Jesus demonstrate just how important helping the poor is to basic Christian faith. Millions of Americans attend church every Sunday for these messages, yet church pews and community spaces sit empty before and after these sermons, while the poorest among us are left to sleep and suffer outside. Remember Gandhi’s humbling observation that “…our Christians are so unlike (our) Christ.”
In Judaism, the word tzedaka, meaning “charity”, derives from the Hebrew word tzedek, meaning “justice.” Performing deeds of justice is perhaps the most important obligation Judaism imposes on a Jew. “In Judaism, giving to the poor is not viewed as a generous, magnanimous act; it is simply an act of justice and righteousness, the performance of a duty, giving the poor their due.” Is your synagogue treating it as their duty to serve the homeless in your community?
Having no place to call home — and no safe place to rest — is the most explicit and tragic symptom of poverty. And every religion calls on us to do more. So why aren’t we demanding that our own churches, synagogues and mosques — those who preach righteousness — actually step up to serve the the needs of our brothers and sisters living on the margins and out on the streets? Why aren’t we demanding that our places of worship practice what they preach?
Yes, it can be done. San Francisco’s St. Boniface Church uses the sanctuary’s rear 76 pews between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m.to let those in need catch some safe uninterrupted shuteye every day of the week. And if you don’t think G-D is in that space, you’ve never been. San Francisco’s GLIDE Memorial has a walk-in center that assists people in finding both emergency, transitional and permanent housing. In addition, they serve nearly one million meals a year, provide harm reduction services, recovery programs, childcare, healthcare and more. Their church motto? “Walk the walk.” Ask your religious institution to follow these churches in walking the walk of true faith, unconditional love and service. And then step up to support them in the effort.
It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the problem of homelessness, drug addition, mental illness and abject poverty that plagues our streets and communities. But feeling overwhelmed doesn’t mean we get to turn a blind eye. Their suffering is a part of us — that is what our faith tells us. So while our government struggles in its attempt to address the deeply complex human problem of homelessness, we should be looking to our religious leaders and religious institutions to step up and step in. It’s time for our communities churches to lead by example and practice what they preach.
