Why Don't the Churches 2.0

Recently on my facebook page, I received a question. The kind of question I appreciate. Thoughtful, intelligent, reasonable.  

TLDR: the question was along the lines of why churches (in particular, the church of which I am the Pastor) don't house people who are homeless? 

The background to the question was framed in a historical context. 

Quoting them: 

"Both of my parents are alive and well. They are elderly. They both lived through the Great Depression as older children.

"Both of them have clear, concise memories. Each from different countries.

"They have mentioned that today’s political, economic environment reminds them of a very similar time when they saw poverty, mental illness, alcoholism, abuses of government, abuses of class, separation of income levels, division of communities, and anger.

"Today's times very much remind them of the Depression times, and history repeating itself."

That is a powerful insight. And I wanted to answer the question well, so I'm writing a longer answer than lends itself to facebook, and I'll come back to this idea later.


So... History:

In the ancient near east (particularly in the Roman Empire) altruism was not a cultural value. People looked after their own. Families, nations, colleagues. (In fact, the existence of altruism in any form is a debate that threads itself through the study of evolution. Why do we do it at all?)

Then here come the Christians. They had a different boss and they did things a different way. They took in abandoned and unwanted children. They fed the hungry. They cared for widows and orphans and the sick, both within and beyond their faith community. Because how could they not? If Jesus taught "love your enemies" and made a (boo! hiss!) Samaritan ('good!? yeah, right!') the compassionate hero of a story, how could they (we) not follow his footsteps?

Fast forward a bit to the rise of a Roman Emperor named Constantine, the first to officially and personally endorse Christianity. Which made life easier for many, but it got complicated. Suddenly the Church had money and influence. Whether that made us better or worse is very much in question. We got better at organization and building. We entered an era called Christendom, when Christians ruled on many of the thrones of Europe and North Africa with Popes and Cardinals supporting them. But many argue (including myself) that it distracted us from our true purpose by getting us involved in politics and turf wars.

That mix of religion and politics continued for generations, with different levels of bed-sharing at different times and with different individuals. But the Church's two primary values persisted: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. There are examples of communities and individuals of faith risking their own lives, wealth, status, and safety to worship together, and to help others in times of need, famine, and plague.

Fast forward further to North America. The big religious institutions that first set up in what would come to be known as Canada had political backing. The Anglicans were deeply linked to the British Monarchy and Parliament, and the Catholics were deeply linked to the French. Many of the representatives of both denominations who came across the ocean as missionaries didn't have the same political obligations, and they tended to work beyond the church walls out in (often Indigenous) communities. 

In regions controlled by the British, the Anglican church was given land and financial support by the government (called The Clergy Reserves). Around the time of Confederation, the government decided to cut the Church loose (not a bad call IMO) and divided the Reserves evenly between the three largest Christian faith groups at the time: Anglican, Catholic, and Methodist. Those three groups built some wonderful buildings (including the one I call 'home'), in and from which a lot of good was done. 

The primary purpose of a church building is as a place of worship. We set apart that space for coming together to pray together, sing together, learn from each other, and encourage each other. That 'hour on Sunday morning' is also the hub of our shared life. The conversations that happen before and after the service plant seeds and spark fires that initiate and feed the things we do together outside the walls, the rest of the week. 

Churches in those decades often ran soup kitchens, doss houses, homes for unmarried mothers, hospitals, and schools. Keeping in mind that, by most estimates, church attendance was around 70% of the population and women's full-time work was in the home and the community, that was doable. The good works of the Church have always been the accomplishment primarily of volunteers. Having an army of people working out of big buildings we were able to do a lot.

Fast forward further to the 20th century. The government started taking on responsibility for many of these things. Schools, health care, income supplementation... these programs started being paid and staffed more and more out of tax dollars. Again, not necessarily a bad thing. An objective Government oversight and centralization of standards could help prevent or correct abuses by bad actors or interest groups trying to manipulate things to their own advantage. (Although it didn't help in the case of the Residential Schools. Everybody failed there.)

Government also took on responsibility for affordable housing. Tax dollars built and subsidized builds that benefitted people who couldn't afford to buy a house.

During the mid-20th century the Church continued to serve in the same ways as always:

"During discussions [with my parents], what was brought up was the involvement of the churches [in the '40's]. All denominations.

"They housed, fed and provided mental, religious guidance during a difficult time."

Fast forward further to the 1980s. The Federal government dropped their support of housing. Then the Provincial government downloaded that responsibility to the municipalities along with a number of other things that towns and cities had never had to deal with before. Housing builds require deeper pockets than most municipalities have. According to many experts, we are now seeing the results of a 30-year deficit in 'non-market' housing. 

We are 3 decades behind in the creation of housing that people can actually afford.

Meanwhile in the Church... In the 1960's, people started dropping out. For a number of reasons, but the math adds up to us today having several generations of people who have never been part of a local church. In my county, an informal poll points to 3-5% attending church on a regular basis (defined as at least once per month). Churches, along with other community and charitable organizations, struggle to round up the volunteers needed to run programs. Clubs like the Lions and Rotary find their numbers dropping as well.

Many congregations are struggling to just keep the doors open and the lights on, let alone do community outreach. Many congregations today are made up entirely of senior citizens who want to do good, but struggle with mobility and other impairments, and who (like the questioner's elderly parents) have encountered first-hand the realities of sharing the streets and store aisles with people who are addicted and/or mentally ill. They are often--understandably--afraid.

"They have experienced harassment in the downtown core by drug induced individuals. They are elderly and use walkers and canes to maneuver to the shops. My mother was verbally assaulted and my father pushed down on the sidewalk by either a mentally ill individual or a drug induced individual. Either way, my parents hold no malice and mention that it reminds them of times in the ‘40’s."

The younger people who do attend church tend to do so in clusters--they go to the churches where there are already younger people instead of investing their energy and presence in strengthening churches who need them.

So that's the sitrep. The housing work that churches used to do was taken on by government. Government then offloaded that work to municipalities who are struggling to resource the need.

Churches used to have lots of people and money, but these days (exacerbated by the Covid shutdowns) are struggling with a shortage of both.

Some United churches in Canada are re-imagining their buildings and creating housing units, which I applaud. But it isn't possible, or even the best idea, for many churches. As I said, these buildings have as their primary purpose worship, of which outreach is a part. But not the whole. We believe that having spaces set apart for the declaration of who God is, of who Jesus is... that in itself is important. And we've learned from our own history that when we get too close to government, we start to lose ourselves.

But also important is caring for people in need. So, some churches who have the resources build onto their existing properties actual housing space. Some who have space on their property collaborate with providers of Sleeping Cabins. Some churches host food banks. Other Christians establish Charitables like Indwell.ca to serve particular demographic groups while fitting in with our current laws and government structures. 

In the days of  'Christendom,' the government governed and the Church cared for people. We don't live there anymore. Today's situation in Canada requires a variety of responses born out of human imagination and Jesus' example of love. He doesn't let us off the hook just because it's more complicated now.

So we all do what we can. We use our buildings as well as we can. We make them available to community groups who need meeting or event space. We provide office space for other organizations doing work that we can in good conscience endorse. We open the doors in every way that we can.

For most churches, creating housing space is simply not feasible. Because of the limitations of historic buildings, because of the retrofits that would be necessary, because of zoning, because of the legal requirements of being a landlord, because of the requirements of the CRA toward religious Charities with regard to where our income comes from.

Instead, we go to meet people where they are. We help them in practical ways as opportunities arise. We volunteer at the food bank and collect food to donate. We financially support other organizations in town (like FareShare, or Habitat) who help in areas of shelter and provision. We write endless blogposts, hoping to encourage people to do what they can do. :-) 

We empower our Pastor, giving her sandwiches to share with the people she finds out there, and gas money to get there.

_______

Back to that observation:

"...today’s political, economic environment reminds them of a very similar time when they saw poverty, mental illness, alcoholism, abuses of government, abuses of class, separation of income levels, division of communities, and anger. Today's times very much remind them of the Depression times, and history repeating itself."

Like I said, that is a powerful insight. When I mentioned it to my family at home, we discussed it for a bit and, yeah... 

During the Depression there was rampant unemployment. Today even people who are working full time have a hard time making ends meet.

During the Depression there were bread lines and soup kitchens. Today our food banks report head-shaking increases in need.

During the Depression there was fear and anxiety. Ditto.

During the Depression there was political upheaval. Ditto.

During the Depression there was a spike in suicide rates. Mental illness is surging today.

During the Depression I think there was one good thing that we don't have today... unity. Mutuality. These days we're far too busy pushing each other away, being polarized, isolating ourselves from community in our insistence on rugged individualism. It's a bit too Roman Empire for my taste.

One thing that gives me hope is to be part of an informal, community grassroots group who work alongside each other to help people. Right now we've got a schedule (organized through WhatsApp) that provides transportation for an unsheltered person to daily pharmacy and clinic appointments as the person recovers from surgery. We would house this person if we could. But (as I keep saying) we do what we can.

As the Pastor of a local church, I'm all too aware of the number of people who call themselves "Christian" but who have decided that they don't need other Christians. That they don't need the Church that Jesus founded and told us to be part of. There are weeks when I get very frustrated, thinking about what we might be able to accomplish if some of those people would come back. Would join in the 'family business.' Would have the imagination to choose to belong to this company of travellers who are, together, trying to make a difference. We can do so much more together than separately.

Realistically, probably not building housing. But standing in the gaps that exist. Together.

______

Back to the question:

For me personally, I appreciate the words of the much lamented Jimmy Carter, who died days before I wrote this,

“My faith demands — this is not optional — my faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can, with whatever I have to try to make a difference.”

My friend asks:

"... how the church, under your leadership, could make an impact on the local vulnerable community... My question, out of curiosity, as also of interest, is why the church, your church in particular, as you seem as the pastor to have a particular calling, are not housing individuals within the sanctions of the walls of religion at your church?"

Simply because we can't.

I do what I can. I try not to beat myself up for what I can't. 

I'm grateful for a church who have got on board with me and are doing what they can. I won't beat them up for what they can't. But I will continue to lead my church fam down the road with me as we answer Christ's calling together, doing what is within our grasp to do. 

We absolutely can and do make a difference. I don't share all the stories publicly because I'm building relationships, not an album of photo-ops and a platform. I will say that I know that my showing up consistently over the years has made a difference for people whose faces and names I know well.

I've said before that my dream church would be a store-front in a downtown block. I'd be hanging out with people sharing coffee and stories and what help I could offer. And talking about Jesus, of course.

Having a few apartments upstairs would be even better. 

I probably won't get to do that, so I talk about it. Part of my calling, I think, is to be a bridge between communities. To try to facilitate empathy between groups of people who have their humanity in common, if little else. To remind the Church, as far as they'll listen to me in my small church in my small town, that this is our job:

To love God, and to love people. 

It's not enough. But it's what I've got.

______

TLDR: Churches don't house people simply because we can't--for reasons that are financial and political, and because we lack the workforce it would require. But we do what we can, meeting parallel and adjacent needs in our communities.




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