On a freezing night this week, we opened up our church for our first community meal of the New Year. It was a quieter night than usual, but sometimes less can be more. Our aim to provide ‘food, connection and community’ and whilst fewer guests means less food is shared, it can create an opportunity to connect more with those who come.
One of our long-term guests (I’ll call him Marc) came in obviously distressed and troubled. He has become homeless again and is sleeping rough.
Over a hot drink he gave me a jumbled account of the last few weeks: having to leave his accommodation, losing his ID and papers, problems with the benefits office and the rough sleeping outreach team not finding him. And all the while, his physical and mental health are obviously on the decline. “What can I do Jon? What can I do?”
Knife-edge of destitution
It’s a variation on a common story. Like so many churches and charities, every week we people whose lives are being wrecked by a blend of interwoven problems: lack of affordable accommodation, immigration issues, lack of language skills, insecure employment, as well as addiction, poor mental health and social isolation.
Our cities have many people living on a knife-edge of destitution. What can we do for such people?
‘Give me 5 minutes’
I felt a bit hopeless in knowing what to say to Marc because we had already spoken about his situation many times. But I felt prompted to do something different: I asked if we could pray together. He said he wanted to, so we went into the church sanctuary and sat down next to each other.
As he sat down, Marc breathed deeply and sighed. He looked over at the large cross at the front of the church and said:
‘Jon, please give me 5 minutes’
I stayed seated as he walked over to the cross. I watched as he carefully held the base of the cross with both hands, leaned forward and kissed it very gently and respectfully.
He then carefully knelt down in front of the cross and prayed. I could hear the earnest mumbling of his prayers and joined them with my own.
I found it very moving to see Marc kneeling there, seeking help and guidance from God. And not just any god, but the One who came to earth and bore our pain on the cross. “The one and only son, who came from the father full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)
The best thing
After about 5 minutes Marc stood up. Again, he gripped the cross, kissed it and walked back to me. I stood as he returned and we embraced and he whispered to me:
‘This was good. I pray to Jesus, God and Mother Mary to help me. I thank you.’
And again, we sat together in silence.
After a few minutes, we returned to the noise, bustle and banter of the meal. I felt that enabling Marc to pray was probably the very best thing that we could do for him.
Responding to need
Across the whole country, churches are responding to needs of people who are homeless and vulnerable. These forms of response are all important and compatible:
Professional: the first is to help people connect with the professional services such as day centres, outreach teams and council housing teams. The options may be limited and inadequate but these services remain crucial. We have a local charity (also originally formed by local churches) which specialises in helping rough sleepers and we urge guests to engage with them as much as possible.
Practical & relational: providing the practical help of night shelters, hot meals and the opportunity to shower and to take away food is needed. But churches should always maintain the relational element which makes them different to professional services. In our context, we do this through playing games and running quizzes which are a fun way to build trust and community.
Prayerful: we invite guests to join a collective prayer before we eat and then a blessing before they leave (see this post for more). It adds something intangibly deep to the whole evening. There is no coercion or pressure but a simple invitation. We find our guests expect churches to offer an opportunity for people to pray.
Providing what no one else can
It is great that churches can provide food, welcome and community. But we can also provide something no one else can: an opportunity to connect to the living God. Why do we so often allow our social action to become indistinguishable from what anyone else can provide?
Let’s have the practical and theological confidence to open up space for the divine: to enable people people like Marc to bring their burdens to the foot of the cross.
If you are interested in a Christian response to homelessness, then don’t miss the Hope into Action annual conference Restorers of Hope on 12th March 2025. We have some brilliant keynote speakers and a host of great seminars.
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