Come and join me!

(I'll also be here tomorrow morning doing a workshop with Molly Vetter and Colin and Laurel Mathewson... this guy will be jealous he isn't with us.)

2011/12 Winter Shelter
We are happy to announce that FPC will once again host a temporary winter shelter starting the evening of December 16. Our goal is to provide more than a roof over the head of some of the most vulnerable that Ladle Fellowship serves. We intend to offer a “Next Step” program for those committed to transitioning off the street. To do this we will need the help of those who are willing to build relationships with our guests and mentor them. We will need volunteer help in the following areas:

(1) providing security and supervision each night
(2) packing bag breakfasts or bringing in evening meals
(3) participating in a time of fellowship with our guests
(4) providing financial sponsorship to offset the costs of the shelter.

Volunteer training will be offered on Saturday, November 19.

Email us at outreach@fpcsd.org to learn more. To volunteer, sign up at the Welcome Center or Usher’s Table or here.

First is hosting a temporary winter shelter again this year. We learned a lot last year. We're weaving this together with a few other projects to hopefully provide the best opportunity for this to be a permanent transition off the streets for our guests. The most exciting, to me, is the "Homeless Assistance Teams", which will be spearheaded by the Downtown Fellowship. Training for the teams and the shelter volunteers will be offered on November 19. Sign up here. We need your help!

After I put my kids to bed this evening, I automatically began to think about making preparations to spend the night at First Presbyterian Church tomorrow night. For the last month and a half, I've spent at least one night a week staying over night at the church for our temporary shelter project. Yet, as soon as the thought entered my mind, I realized that this would not happen this week.

On Sunday morning, our guests that have been with us for the last six weeks slept in (certainly glad to have avoided the storm that blew in over the weekend). Then they enjoyed breakfast brought in by volunteers, joined First Pres' for worship, joined Ladle Fellowship for our weekly Sunday lunch and then left the campus. And for the first time in six weeks, they would not plan to return that evening.

It's been a rich journey, even if brief. Yet, there is the question, What did we accomplish? It's hard to sum up all we learned and experienced. Some of what I drafted for a report to the church's elders included these points:

Three of our guests became members of FPC during the project. One guest is now moving into permanent housing. One into temporary housing. Four applied for assisted housing. One guest is now employed in a full time job. One has interviews lined up. Four guests are currently taking college-level classes. Each have made personal progress. For some, it has simply been learning to trust others once again. For others, the chance to receive a good night's rest has given them the courage to pursue work, education and housing once again.

To be honest, we can't take all the credit for these steps. The people that are taking them deserve the credit. It has to be incredibly difficult to take these steps considering their situation. Still, it does show what a little help can do for a person. What is more, it shows what friendships can do. Just as much as a warm place to sleep, I have to think that relationships of love and trust made some of these positive steps possible.

Today, I sat in a City Council meeting and watched these officials approve steps to provide a permanent intake facility in downtown San Diego. To be certain, providing the services that will be offered in this location is a huge step in a (mostly) positive direction. But I have to imagine that if a group of 50 volunteers could see such progress in only a few weeks with a small group of people, than there is even more that could happen over the long haul.

What have I learned from this experience? I'm not sure if it's something I learned as much as it was something confirmed inside of me. And this is that our wealth and poverty is defined in great ways by the quality of our relationships. Most people on the streets need healthy and accountable relationships with friends. This one thing can make a world of difference.

I am richer for the friends I developed through this experience. I am certainly glad to be able to have more rest throughout the week. But I already miss the community I experienced every Wednesday night. I have moments where the "bleeding heart" in me wishes and wants to do more. Yet, I think I am doing the right thing; developing relationships, committing to be honest, asking the hard questions, giving honest answers, not doing for someone what they can do for themselves and doing the hard work of being a friend to be a person in a hard season. If more of us did just that... well, I do think things would change in San Diego.

Go make a new friend today Or, simply recommit to those in your life in a hard time. Don't take all the steps for them. Just be their biggest fan. You both will be richer for it.

I haven't written about the temporary shelter project at FPC for a while. And the reason is that I've struggled with how to continue to write about this. This grows difficult because this isn't simply a project; it is the names and faces of those that are our guests. They are becoming friends. You don't blog about every conversation you have with your friends, giving physical description of them, etc. Outside of select circumstances, that would be an invasion. Yet, this reveals something that is often lost for those living on the streets: dignity.

The process of living on the streets is dehumanizing. Without realizing it, those of us that are not on the streets view homeless folks differently. Saying you are homeless somehow places you a level below those with homes. Even for those that serve the homeless out of godly desires for justice and mercy are effected by this. In continuing to write, I want to be careful of not allowing these new friends to appear as subjects in an experiment. Certainly, what we have embarked on is an experiment. But it is only one in so much that two groups of people (those housed and those not) are attempting to find ways to work towards change, and follow our convictions.

Change? Yes, each of us--hosts and guests--would like to see the situation of each guest change. But when you strive to treat people humanely, this becomes a task unique to each individual. There is not one answer. And as weeks go by, it becomes clearer and clearer how much needs to change in the hearts of those hosting each night. When the subtle sense of superiority over another set of human beings creeps into our hearts we begin to act as gods--beings above others. And this, we Christians believe, is idolatry. Therefore, we too are in need of change.

One might assume that one change is internal and one external. But this would be wrong. The change for both begins internally. Our perception of ourselves has to change first before we will find the motivation to change how we act, how we treat others, how we live.

Convictions? Yes, Scriptures tell us to take care of those in need. In the process, we wrestle with the tension of seeking justice and extending mercy. One one hand, we know systemic problems must change (justice). But this does not impact the fact that we are called to offer a helping hand without strings attached (mercy). We are not a service of the State or a non-profit agency. We are a church and we wrestle to find the place where we do both justice and mercy with humility.

But it is not only the hosts that are following conviction. Read the Gospels, or the narrative of Abraham in Genesis, and see what you find about hospitality. Hospitality is as often received as given by those who follow the Triune God. In fact, Jesus made a practice of inviting himself into other people's homes. And if you have read anything on the Missio Dei throughout Scripture you will know that receiving hospitality plays a significant role in the formation of how we understand mission.

So, my hope is that in these brief weeks, these new friends--both guests and hosts--know a little more of their worth. Not just before humankind, but before God as well. More thoughts later on...

What happens when institutional, multi-site, emerging, missional, house and mega churches from one city come together?

It sounds similar to one of those, "A priest, a rabbi and a minister walk into a bar..." jokes. But it's not. These are all terms that might be used to describe the various churches that have come together to make the temporary shelter at FPC happen. They are only labels, which are almost always insufficient and limiting. But it gives a glimpse of the variety of folks that have come together under one conviction: that the good news of the Gospel is good news to the poor. On one night, someone might be sharing about her wealthy, globe trotting friends. The next night, another person is talking about their own struggle to find work. People with much and people with little have come together to do this.

And it has been a beautiful thing to observe.

The guests themselves are not much different in this respect. In fact, they have fewer reasons to trust each other. The streets seem to make folks lose this fast. Yet, even while they each have significantly different stories, daily patterns and routines, they are building community together--they are housemates over the next several weeks afterall.

Watching people learn to trust and love again has been a beautiful thing to observe.

Tonight, FPC's temporary shelter opened. I showed up for my late shift to find a couple people still up.

I sat down next to them and said, "You're up late! Why aren't you taking the chance to get some sleep?"

"It's just nice to be with other people." one man said.

I take for granted what a gift it is to be able to sit in a warm room, sip coffee and just be in conversation with others. It seems simple. Maybe unimportant. But for at least a couple of our guests, it was irresistible-what they needed tonight.

The conversation ranged from one subject to another. Then, one woman said, "Wait. Listen." We all became quiet and listened. Someone was snoring deeply from the other end of the room. Both of those guests still awake looked at each other knowingly and smiled. I looked at them with a puzzled expression.

"That means you're doing what you set out to do," said the man to me. He leaned forward, "Sober people don't sleep that deeply on the streets."

The woman looks at me and says, "They feel safe... Well done."

Thanks to all of you that are making safety and warmth available to these folks for this limited window of time.