Major changes began just before the two weeks I was gone at Christmas. BC Housing funds the main expense of housing and feeding up to 240 homeless folks staying at First United Church (FUC). FUC was operating as a refuge, rather than a shelter. What this means is that no one was refused a bed or meal, and so the most troubled and problematic were accepted, which included the expected difficulties they created. If refused, they would be left out in the inclimate weather to possibly perish as so many have here in the DTES. Extra sleeping pads and blankets were laid out in the dining room when the count went above 240.
The difficulties this created became a problem to local government even though numerous lives were saved. Many would have overdosed fatally from drugs had not ambulance service been called. The Vancouver Police Department answered over 500 calls last year to settle complications from housing the most marginalized of DTES. Tensions were understandably high between the Presbytery of the United Church and city authorities. Finally decisions were made by the Presbytery that would limit the most troubled and marginalized as is the policy of most shelters in North America. This is understandable as shelters try to help as many homeless as possible but are not equipped to handle the most problematic.
Consequently Ric Matthews, Sandra Severs, and Gillian Rhodes who were the previous leaders at FUC resigned. They have since begun a new society they are calling the New Way Community Society. Their goals will be complimentary to those of FUC, as they intend to create a community modeled from L'arche. They plan to initially focus on 20 of the most marginalized in DTES who are so often excluded from help and services. I met with Ric last week and we discussed ways I can be involved, as well as continuing my current involvement at FUC.
Last night I attended an open meeting which discussed the initial goals of the New Way Community Society. The room was packed with extra chairs having to be added. The attendees were enthused about the intended focus, and encouraged the services would be complimentary to those currently in operation at FUC.
I felt very grateful as Ric was sharing how this would be staffed and financed. He shared my ministry as an example. He complimented my home church (Redeemer's Fellowship in Roseburg OR) and my friends who are supporting me. The society will be encouraging this "Missionary Model" as well as other options.
I am beginning to see my interests in training and educating local churches in addiction and mental health come to fruition. As the society takes form it will be my goal to encourage participants in my ministry to visit and experience DTES to consider how they can serve in their local communities.
Thank you again for supporting me with your thoughts, prayers, and financial gifts. I have such a profound sense of the Sovereignty of God and His purpose for me in the DTES. I will certainly keep you informed. Please take a few minutes and view the included videos of L'Arche. I would love to hear your feedback.
Last July, Ross overhead me talking to someone in a Birch Bay cafe, and expressed interest in the church we were planting. That overheard conversation led to a sharing of ministry visions and eventually a relationship that produced two addictions workshops in our local area -- the first of which was held at our church.
His first two-hour workshop taught 15 of us about the scientific and medical aspects of addictions. Too often, Christians make recovery a simple “moral” issue, when there are so many aspects to the problem. We learned about genetics, the brain and neurotransmitters, and the psychology, social and environmental aspects of addictions.
For me as a pastor and a relative of several addicts, one of the greatest lessons I learned was what dislocation means and how addiction fills needs and medicates the emotional and physical pain in people’s lives. But just knowing that addiction is a many-headed monster with no simple solution was good to hear.
During the second meeting of his workshop, we learned how the church can be a haven for those trying to recover. Again, the main message was that Christians can help their friends and family best by not making it purely a “spiritual battle.”
While there certainly is a spiritual aspect — and a need to take it to God in prayer and exercise the other spiritual disciplines — it is not as simple as “good” vs. “evil.” Instead, it is more like helping those with other illnesses: providing medical help, emotional support, education, employment opportunities or other resources. When you bring in spiritual concerns, these are all things that churches can provide. The addict needs a place to belong that replaces his drug or alcohol abusing culture.
All of these lessons were important to learn and could have been discovered from a book or DVD. But Ross made it not only easier to comprehend and digest, but more personal to where we were.
He shared stories from his own life and ministry that made the facts come to life. He involved the audience in the presentation, encouraging us to share our questions, thoughts and feelings.
From a chance meeting, Ross was able to teach interested church leaders and reach other congregations. He also graciously agreed to help when addiction struggles come up in our church family, and even volunteered to help get a halfway house started in our community.
My hope is that God continues to use Ross, his powerful story and his ministry of workshops and writings to not only help the addicted of Vancouver, but to help Christian families and the church at large become havens for the many who need God’s love and healing as they seek to recover.
Pastor Jim Carberry
Water’s Edge Church
Birch Bay, Washington, USA
As a Mission Congregation, First United Church has started a new format on Wednesday evenings. On this night table cloths are put on the tables and the residents are served by volunteers rather than going through the usual food line. After the meal a short spiritual message was shared. It was hard to keep the attention and focus of those who remained seated waiting for dessert and more coffee.
Now after the meal, we collapse the tables and set up chairs in concentric circles. There are 30-35 volunteers, staff, and others who are attending. Last night Rabbi David Mivasair shared a couple of Hebrew chants from the Psalms and then Don Roberson (retired United Church Minister) shared from John 1 and Jesus bringing light into the world.
The church is going through a leadership change which has been unsettling, and Sally McShane, a new part time minister of pastoral care led a check in for participants to share what forming such a pluralistic faith community meant to them.
A number of residents ventured into the meeting and joined us which is the main purpose of the evening. It was then that a man who is new to me, but has been in the community long term shared“I don’t know how to get out of here.”
I was so moved by this statement! I was reminded and impressed again that the only way a resident can get out of here is with the support of a variety of community efforts. First United as a refuge is limited to mostly providing harm reduction. This is working to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations due to preventable infections and diseases. It is trying to keep people alive and healthy while working to engage them in treatment for the addiction, mental health, and poverty issues that create homelessness.
This reinforces my belief that with training and education the church at large can be the ideal community to aid the homeless, addicted, and mentally ill. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayer and partnering with me in the DTES.
Beyond Homelessness Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement by
Steven Bouma-Prediger and Brian J Walsh is the most important book I have read
on this subject. It is an excellent, well documented sociological study. After
each chapter they share the social construct dealing with homelessness in the Old Testament. This begins with Adam and Eve becoming homeless when expelled from the garden. They offer 8
criteria of what it means to have a home.
A home is a place of permanence. To be ‘at home’ somewhere is more than
simply having a place to stay…Home…signifies a certain degree of spatial
permanence, an enduring presence, or residence. In a speed-bound culture, every
highly mobile person is a victim of some form of homelessness because there is
no time to foster a sense of enduring emplacement. Shelter alone is not
sufficient.
A home is a dwelling place but not the
same as a house. A house is a domicile,
while a home is an abode. Home is a relationship that is created and evolved
over time. A house refers to its construction while a home has deep psychological and social
significance.
A home is a storied place. A home becomes a home when it is transformed
by memory-shaped meaning into a place of identity, connectedness, order and
care. Rituals like celebration of holidays make a house a home by linking
our personal and communal stories with a particular location.
A
home is a safe resting place where you can relax and be
yourself. It’s a safe place where you can be vulnerable and learn to trust, a
place of safety and rest.
A
home is a place of hospitality. As opposed to a fortress, few
are strangers there and there is room to include others.
A
home is a place of embodied inhabitation where a person feels
a sense of rootedness. To be rooted is
perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. A
resident is a temporary and rootless …The inhabitant by contrast ‘dwells’… in
an intimate, organic, and mutually nurturing relationship with a place.
A
home is a place of orientation in which we know where we
are and what we are in this world. A home provides a sense of order and
direction to our lives.
A
home is a place of affiliation and belonging where we experience
recognition, acceptance, and identity.
On December 31, Mike Kildal (Developer of Ministries & Teams) graciously shared the pulpit with me for the first ten minutes of his sermon. I was able to share an update of my six months spent in DTES and some of the things I have learned. In the picture you can see an overview of homelessness I discussed.
Then after the third service, a group of over 25 friends, supporters, and new contacts spent an hour and a half discussing my role serving with First United Church. The interaction was terrific and very encouraging.
One aspect of home is belonging to a community, and I saw that Roseburg is my home and my roots are deep. It made clear that I am a missionary / chaplain. As I am a dual citizen, many of you had thoughts I would be relocating permanently.
With year end donations as well as my regular support, I am so grateful the fiscal year ended in the black with prudent reserves for income tax and other anticipated extra expenses. Thank you to all who have shared your thoughts, prayers, and support with me. You are partners with me helping those in despair have a sense of belonging and community in the DTES.
