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1 Corinthians 12:12-26

BY MARK SCHAEFER

It was an ordinary Sunday worship service at Foundry UMC in Washington, D.C., with processional, choirs, children's sermon, congregational concerns.

Ordinary - until the Rev. Dean Snyder welcomed everyone to Foundry, a place, he noted, "where we are gathered to affirm that we can end homelessness." Not address. Not respond to. Not reach out in love to those afflicted by. End. End homelessness.

A pretty big claim for a single congregation to make. But Foundry wasn't kidding. The vision they shared that Sunday was of no less than ending homelessness.

To present that vision was Rosanne Haggerty, the president and founder of Common Ground, a New York City-based non-profit organization dedicated to finding innovative solutions to homelessness.

Haggerty chose for her sermon 1 Corinthians 12:12-26, the Pauline reflection on the diversity of the members of the body, containing the admonition that "if one member suffers, all suffer together with it."

"What if Paul is not simply telling us to care or feel for others," she said, "but is revealing to us that our health is connected to others' and that working for the health of all is essential to our own health?"

Haggerty realized some years ago that the task at hand was not simply to provide charitable services but that their "real work was ending homelessness." That thinking helped her to change Common Ground from one that helped the homeless to one that worked toward ending homelessness.

After much work, and being willing to regroup and learn from situations that fell short of expectations, Common Ground actually began to reduce the homelessness rates.

But could their success be replicated in a city like Washington?

Haggerty noted that the program begins with housing. Having property that can be converted to housing "is the key to all of it," she said.

But what of the church? As disciples of Christ what are we called to do?

Foundry's journey in this regard is not unlike Common Ground's. After years of responding to individual need, Foundry is beginning to commit to a new vision: ending homelessness in Washington.

Following Haggerty's sermon, the congregation pledged to end homelessness. "We commit to the goal of ending homelessness in our city through our actions and prayers," they said in a litany.

Foundry's commitment to end homelessness did not end with the liturgy.

The church is a part of the Washington Interfaith Network's (WIN) effort to press city leaders to guarantee $ 19.2 million for housing in Washington.

But what can churches do? Haggerty provided a number of ideas:

• Purchase housing. Some churches have purchased housing for the purpose of providing homes for homeless and low-income families.
• Adopt people. Churches in Atlanta and Denver "adopted" families who were in transition, helping them to meet needs and provide a community of love and support as they make the transition from homelessness.
• Create community. Churches can create a social support network for the homeless, helping them to make important connections.
• Redevelop existing real estate. Churches often own buildings or parsonages that can be repurposed to help end homelessness.
• Educate. Many communities have the "Not In My Backyard" attitude about public housing for the homeless. Churches can be leaders in public education about the benefits not only to the homeless, but to the community itself.
• Guide. Foundry's Walk-In Mission helps homeless individuals to obtain birth certificates, IDs, and Social Security cards. Churches can become an important help in navigating the system that is an often overwhelming barrier to escaping homelessness.
• Pray. Like Foundry, congregations can commit to ending homelessness through actions and prayers, an important part in making our actions less busy work and more about our relationship with God and one another.

Homelessness has been a part of our urban landscape for the past few decades, so much so that we have come to accept it as a sad part of normal city life. We have become complacent, comfortable, often not seeing the radical inter-relatedness with one another that Paul talks about to the Corinthians.

We are disconnected from one another and do not see the suffering of the homeless as our own sufferings. Foundry and Common Ground challenge us to think otherwise, and challenge us to commit ourselves not just to helping the homeless, but to ending homelessness altogether.

The Rev. Mark Schaefer attends Foundry UMC and is United Methodist chaplain at American University in Washington, D.C.