As I left the church at the end of the day today, I passed the guys as they waited in the misty evening for the shelter doors to open. I caught sight of Russ’s head, and asked what he was doing hanging around with them. Tonight was the big annual awards dinner that Porchlight puts on, and Russ was one of the honorees. He claimed to be waiting for his ride, but he was an hour early.

As I watched him, and later at the dinner as I continued watching him, it was clear that he was more comfortable with the homeless guys than at the dinner. But when he received the award and spoke, he was himself and beautifully eloquent.

As we ate, I couldn’t help but think of the men I passed on my way home, waiting to get into the shelter out of the cold, damp night, and what they would be eating tonight. Porchlight does some wonderful things and we heard some great success stories. We also got to meet or listen to some of their dedicated staff. It was a moving evening, but even as we ate, and listened, I remembered those men, waiting in line for shelter.

I’ve been at Grace for a little over three months. I’ve repeatedly said, during my interview with the Vestry, and when people have asked me about my attraction to this church, that chief among the things that appealed to me were the presence of the homeless shelter and the food pantry.

Like so many people, though, it’s easy for me to pay lip service to those important ministries, without actually taking the time to get to know them, or to get involved with them. OK, yes, Corrie and I did volunteer at the shelter meal soon after we arrived in Madison, and in the last few weeks, Corrie has become volunteered at the food pantry as well. And yes, I did meet with staff from Porchlight, who actually run the shelter. But the fact of the matter is, I have allowed other things to take precedence over these outreach efforts.

That’s about to change. It may be because of the change in seasons. As of November 1, the shelter observes winter hours, which means that if I leave the office around 5:00 pm, I will encounter guys standing in line, waiting to be let into the shelter. I’ve seen the line before, in the alley, on Fairchild St., but encountering them as I leave is a very different thing.

A couple of days ago, Russ came up to the office and mentioned that the previous night, there were three calls to 911 from the shelter between 8 and 9 pm. That’s outrageous, but a little reflection provides some perspective. They start queuing up around 4:00 pm. They are allowed in the shelter at 5:00; dinner is at 8:00 pm. That means that they are standing around waiting for about 4 hours. Plus, while there is room for around 50 guys at Grace, in fact most nights more than 100 men are housed, including at the two overflow shelters. That means there are roughly 100-150 men waiting for dinner for three hours in a space that can comfortably accommodate 1/3 of that number. It’s a recipe for disaster, which is why disasters occur so often.

As a church, we have a responsibility to see to it that programs we support treat human beings with dignity, and if that doesn’t happen, that we do everything in our power to see that it does. Matthew 25 includes Jesus’ famous words about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, etc. “Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.” We are not treating the homeless, or indeed those who visit our pantry, as if they were Jesus Christ. We should.

I have already said a great deal about hospitality in the time I’ve been at Grace. I am going to have to say more.

Grace Church has opened its doors over the years to the Madison community. The Drop-In Shelter and the Food Pantry are the most obvious examples of our hospitality, but we also host meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous and other community groups. But there is much more we can do.

While our courtyard is often bustling with activity, some of it occasionally unwelcomed, during the week our greatest resource, the sanctuary, remains closed to the public except for the Wednesday Eucharist. On Saturday mornings when Capitol Square is full of people, the corner of Carroll and West Washington is quiet. In general our space is underutilized and unwelcoming. Visitors have a hard time negotiating the labyrinth that is our building complex, and many of our spaces are dark and dingy.

In the coming months, I will be working with Grace’s members and lay leadership to think about how we might make our church a more welcoming place and how we might enhance the quality of life in Capitol Square.  There are large problems with high price tags, but there are also small things, relatively inexpensive that we can do. For example, could we open the doors of the sanctuary on Saturday mornings to people who might want to come in and look around or enjoy the silence and beauty of our church?

One change in our liturgy to increase accessibility and demonstrate our hospitality is that we will soon offer gluten-free wafers for those worshipers who cannot eat wafers made of wheat.