The shelter system and the prison system

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A really fine article by Pat Schneider on the direct line from the prison system to the homeless shelter.

Linda Ketcham, executive director of Madison-area Urban Ministry, a nonprofit agency that assists criminal offenders returning to the community, estimates that 75 to 80 percent of people her agency assists in its offender “re-entry” programs are homeless. “The shelter system is the only option“ for many of them, she said.

I’ve blogged about this before here. I can confirm several points in the article. I know that guys come straight from the parole office to the shelter. I know that sex offenders that are released to their own communities come to Madison because there’s no place for them back home.
I remember several years ago a young man, a teenager, brought by corrections officials to the shelter from whatever prison he’d been in elsewhere in the state. His parents came down too. They wanted to know about the shelter, how he would fare, what would happen to him. For whatever reason, he wasn’t released to them. What I remember most about him was the look of fear on his face. Whatever he’d faced in prison was nothing like the uncertainty he was facing now. I have no idea what happened to him.
His reaction is quite common among those I’ve talked to who have just been released from prison. They’re facing incredible odds in their efforts to put their lives back together. In addition to all the social services they need, they also need a support system to help them, to encourage them, and to offer a helping hand when they make mistakes. Instead, they come to the shelter where they’re anonymous, where they’re surrounded by people who may or may not want to help them, and where access to the services they need is a maze in a city they probably don’t know.
The re-entry program run by MUM mentioned in the article does amazing things.

Grace Church: A Transient Hotel with a Steeple

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The author of a recent letter to the editor published in the Wisconsin State Journal was intending to be witty, sarcastic, even bitingly critical when he described Grace Church in that way. I doubt he had any clue that it’s an apt description of a church. St. Augustine of Hippo referred to the church as a hospital for sinners and interpreted the inn in the parable of the Good Samaritan as the church where peoples’ sins and wounds are healed. In the letter to the Hebrews, the Christian life is described repeatedly as a sojourn in a foreign country. Christians are homeless in this world, yearning for our eternal home.

Of course, the letter’s author wasn’t referring to spiritual homelessness. He was referring to the fact that since 1984, Grace Church has opened its doors to the homeless.

Why is the men’s shelter at Grace Church? One answer is that there’s nowhere else. The shelter opened its doors on a one-year trial basis in 1984. The need is as great now as it was then and over the years no alternative location has been found.

There’s another reason it’s at Grace. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a parable of judgment in which the righteous are rewarded because they clothed the naked, fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger. The righteous asked when they had done those things to him and the king replies, “Just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.”

Like millions of other Christians in Madison and around the world, we shelter the homeless and we feed the hungry because in their faces we see the face of Jesus Christ.

Maybe we should make it our new motto: “Grace Church, A Transient Hotel with a Steeple.”

“Or what king, going out to wage war…” A Sermon for Proper 18, Year C

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“Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.” Continue reading →

A Benediction by and for Robert Farrar Capon

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I wish you well. May your table be graced with lovely women and good men. May you drink well enough to drown the envy of youth in the satisfactions of maturity. May your men wear their weight with pride, secure in the knowledge that they have at last become considerable. May they rejoice that they will never again be taken for callow, black-haired boys. And your women? Ah! Women are like cheese strudels. When first baked, they are crisp and fresh on the outside, but the filling is unsettled and indigestible; in age, the crust may not be so lovely, but the filling comes at last into its won. May you relish them indeed. May we all sit long enough for reserved to give way to ribaldry and for gallantry to grow upon us. May there be singing at our table before the night is done, and old, broad jokes to fling at the stars and tell them we are men.

We are great, my friend; we shall not be saved for trampling that greatness under foot. Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus. Lectulus noster floridus. Tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina. Ecce iste venit, saliens in montibus, transilens colles. [Behold, you are beautiful, my love, and fair. Our bed is blooming. The beams of our house are cedar,  the ceiling is cypress. Behold, he is coming, leaping over the mountains, jumping across the hills. (From the Song of Solomon) — RD]

Come then; leap upon these mountains, skip upon these hills and heights of earth. The road to Heaven does not run from the world, but through it. The longest Session of all is no discontinuation of these sessions here, but a lifting of them all by priestly love. It is a place for men, not ghosts — for the risen gorgeousness of the New Earth and for the glorious earthiness of the True Jerusalem.

Eat well then. Between our love and His Priesthood, He makes all things new, Our Last Home will be home indeed.

from The Supper of the Lamb. Thanks to Rod Dreher

Curioser and Curioser (about that fishy smell in the Episcopal Church)

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I’ve got no particular insight or perspective into this story, except as a loyal Episcopal priest who has overseen UTO ingatherings in two parishes, and has been proud to be able to say that almost every penny goes to mission. But when my wife read my post, she pointed out the historical perspective. The UTO is one of those institutions that developed because women were locked out of power and mission in American Protestant Christianity in the 19th century and that its independence was fiercely guarded in part because of that history. She also pointed out that one of the first targets when the fundamentalists took over the Southern Baptist Convention in the 1980s was the Women’s Missionary Union, which like the UTO was largely independent of other Baptist structures.

The Presiding Bishop is attempting to calm the waters. 

But some folks are not having any of it. Elizabeth Kaeton and Ann Fontaine have both provided personal stories related to the UTO and their concerns about these recent events.

From Ann Fontaine:

Overall it moves total control to the Chief Operating Officer of the Episcopal Church with a small advisory role for the “Board,” where is the participation by UTO in the granting process? in communications? in any oversight of monies given to UTO?

It removes references to the main goal of heightening awareness of gratitude in our lives, it no longer has any relationship to the Episcopal Church Women (primary supporters of this ministry),

It removes the UTO role in development of materials and training local UTO coordinators, though the report to General Convention encouraged a continuing autonomy for UTO with interdependence – this removes all autonomy.

 

From Elizabeth Kaeton:

Many questions remain, these two among them:

1. How does the Memorandum of Understanding between DFMS and EWC/UTO embody the “creative tension” between the “increasing regulatory” function of DFMS and the “visionary, autonomous grassroots” function of UTO/ECW and be both/and: “autonomous but interdependent”? (INC-055 Ad-Hoc Committee on the Study of the United Thank Offering, GC 2012. If you haven’t read it, please do.)

2. What is contained in that Memorandum which caused 4 women – intelligent, educated women who are passionate about and dedicated to the mission of the Gospel – to resign because they believed that they needed to follow the high calling of being “whistle blowers”?

I agree that speculation holds with it the potential to be non-productive and dangerous. The primary danger, of course, is to those who benefit by not providing evidence.

I am still chilled by the knowledge that the conversations concerning the historic, autonomous, missionary leadership of women (UTO/ECW) becoming more a part of the “increasingly regulatory” body of DFMS had to be had with a group of 4 representatives from DFMS (3 of whom were men) under a signed agreement of confidentiality. And yet, the words “accountability” and “transparency” are being bandied about as somehow meaningful.

I understand. That may be “business as usual,” but when you are talking about the historic autonomy of women (which came about because women were excluded from leadership in existing church structures), and removing direct decision making and control over the money they raise, well, it just doesn’t bode well – especially in the church.

On this one, I’m with Ann and Elizabeth.

Robert Farrar Capon, 1925-2013

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One of the great theologians of the Episcopal Church has died. Robert Farrar Capon was the author of one of my favorite books, The Supper of the Lamb, in addition to many others. His vision of grace and of the heavenly banquet continues to inspire and influence me, more than thirty years after I first read it.
“Grace is the celebration of life, relentlessly hounding all the non-celebrants in the world. It is a floating, cosmic bash shouting its way through the streets of the universe, flinging the sweetness of its cassations to every window, pounding at every door in a hilarity beyond all liking and happening, until the prodigals come out at last and dance, and the elder brothers finally take their fingers out of their ears.” ― Robert Farrar Capon, Between Noon & Three: Romance, Law & the Outrage of Grace

“The bread and the pastry, the cheeses and wine, and the sugar go into the Supper of the lamb because we do. It is our love that brings the city home. It is I grant you, an incautious and extravagant hope. But only outlandish hopes can make themselves at home.” ― Robert Farrar Capon, The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection

“My life is a witness to vulgar grace–a grace that amazes as it offends. A grace that pays the eager beaver who works all day long the same wages as the grinning drunk who shows up a ten till five. A grace that hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party no ifs, ands or buts. A grace that raises bloodshot eyes to a dying theif’s request–”Please, remember me”–and assures him, “You bet!” A grace that is the pleasure of the Father, fleshed out in the carpenter Messiah, Jesus the Christ, who left His Father’s side not for heaven’s sake but for our sakes, yours and mind.  This vulgar grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without asking anything of us. It’s not cheap. It’s free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility. Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover. Grace is enough. He is enough. Jesus is enough.” (Source: http://rockedbygrace.blogspot.com/2012/07/robert-farrar-capon-vulgar-grace.html

An interview with him from Mockingbird (Sept. 2, 2011)

Something very fishy going on in the Episcopal Church

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This one is primarily for Episcopal insiders, that very small, and declining number of people who care about what happens in the Episcopal Church.

This week, Mark Harris broke the news that four boardmembers of the UTO (United Thank Offering) had resigned in protest of what seemed to them to be an attempt by The Episcopal Church to take over their assets, their good name, and their mission. The UTO is a longstanding tradition in the Episcopal Church. Begun by women at a time when women were shut out of the organization, leadership, and structure of the church, it collects money from individuals and parishes and gives a crazy high percentage of that money away in grants. It has almost no administrative costs. What costs that do exist are largely assumed by the Episcopal Church.

But apparently, in an effort to increase transparency and accountability, a committee consisting of UTO board members and Church Center staff have created new bylaws for the organization that, in the judgment of the resigning board members:

The revised bylaws document eviscerates the United Thank Offering. It is monstrous and the worst set of revisions ever seen by one longtime bylaws expert.   Several Board members described initial reactions to the document as “Horror.”  The Board President said the word “eviscerate” occurred to her as well.

Mark, a former member of the Executive Council, and also a former member of the committee that was charged with studying the relationship of the UTO to TEC, is following this story very closely and has offered comment on the new bylaws. His questions and concerns are very helpful.

In the course of the day yesterday, the President of the House of Deputies, and “the Leadership” (whatever that may mean) also offered their takes on the matter. You can read their pieces here.

Part of what seems to be at stake here is that the proposed bylaws remake the nature of the UTO board (it was previously elected from various Episcopal Church Women bodies) and put the power of final approval of UTO grants in the hands of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church.

Quite apart from another public relations disaster for the Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop, and its Chief Operating Officer, all of this seems to me to be quite contrary to the push for restructuring, and allowing grassroots organizations to thrive. To add another level to the grantmaking process is to make the process more cumbersome, more time-consuming, and more expensive. To take power away from the periphery and concentrate it on the center is to exacerbate problems.

The PR is awful; it’s embarrassing. To issue press releases under the aegis of “The Leadership” is laughable. They might as well call it the Politburo. It looks like all either the Presiding Bishop or the COO care about is money, property (a charge thrown out repeatedly by those involved in property litigation), and power. And because the UTO was largely independent, it had all of those things.

There is so little trust in the periphery for TEC; so little trust from ordinary members, from parishes and congregations. The UTO is one of those things that we could all agree on. We knew its origins; we knew that the money collected would go to amazing mission projects across the US and across the world.

Once again, instead of focusing on what we need to do, and what UTO has done in the past, we are focused on process, on power, on hurt. I’m really not sure we’ll have a UTO ingathering at Grace this fall. I certainly won’t be able to say with any certainty where the money will go.

How can you mess something up so completely?

But my prayer remains:

GRACIOUS GOD, source of all creation, all love, all true joy: accept, we pray, these outward signs of our profound and continuing thankfulness for all of life. Keep each of us ever thankful for all the blessings of joy and challenge that come our way. Bless those who will benefit from these gifts through the outreach of the United Thank Offering. This we ask through Him who is the greatest gift and blessing of all, Jesus Christ. Amen

 

State Street update

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More articles on the city’s proposed crackdown on people hanging out at State and Mifflin. There are several interesting nuggets here. Mayor Soglin places some blame on other communities and the State Department of Corrections sending parolees here after being released from prison. I’d be curious to know how widespread this practice is, but over the years I know it happens frequently. For example, I’ve seen police cruisers from Monona drive right up to the shelter and drop someone off. And just last week, I encountered a man who said he’d been released and sent to the shelter from the Parole Office. Often, there’s no alternative. Their home communities lack the resources to help them or places for them to live.

Something else I find very interesting. My sense is that the number of men coming to the Drop-In shelter this summer is down significantly from previous years. In recent days, the numbers have often dropped below fifty. There may be a couple of reasons for this. One is the limit on the length of stay (60 days, not including inclement weather). At our First Monday meal this week, we had more “walk-ins” than guests from the shelter, which suggests many are not accessing the shelter system. But that also may mean that they are not accessing the network of social service agencies that seek to help.

One simple solution, well not so simple because we’ve not been able to create one in Madison, is a day center where homeless people could spend their days and access the services they need. If there were such a facility, homeless people could go there, and the police could deal much more effectively with those who commit the crimes.

From Channel 3:

Frederick “Chile” Burton is a self-proclaimed mayor for his homeless community, even though he said not all of the people congregating in that area are homeless.  Burton said with shelters shutting down during summer days, there are few other places to go.

“What are we supposed to do?” Burton asked.  “We can’t go to the shelter until 7:30.  At the same time, they have to come down here.  They come down here where they feel comfortable at.”

From Channel 15:

Madison Mayor Paul Soglin attributes the crime surge partly to the state Department of Corrections dumping offenders released from prisons from around the state in Madison without a place to stay, stressing the shelter StSsystem.

“We plan to talk to some of the other municipalities that are using their staff, their vehicles and literally driving their residents to downtown Madison,” he said. “I’ll tell you right now we will drive them right back.”

From the Capital Times (paywall)

To Love the Strange: A sermon for Proper 17, Year C

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I had one of those encounters I often do at Grace. As I was leaving the building at the end of a long day, I met a man who was wandering around in our courtyard. He had clearly been at the door of the shelter, found it locked and was wondering what next. I greeted him, asked if he needed anything, and listened to a little bit of his story. He had been released from prison that day after eight years and after a visit to the Parole Office, they had sent him here—assuring him that the shelter opened at 6:00 pm. Continue reading →

What can we do?

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What can we do? What should we do?

Tami Miller asked me this question a couple of days ago. She was referring specifically to our response to homelessness. I promised her a response but it’s been a busy couple of days for me filled with meetings and lengthy conversations with parishioners about all manner of things.

During these past few days, my attention has also been diverted by the growing debate over the same question being asked about a very different situation—the appropriate US response to the ongoing violence in Syria and especially to the claims of the use of chemical weapons against civilians. As I’ve read that debate, I was struck by the same anguish, uncertainty, and helplessness that many of us feel in Madison. “We’ve got to do something!” is a common refrain in the debate over Syria, although the prospect of the situation improving as a result of our actions is doubtful.

We see suffering, either in images on TV of distant conflict or natural disaster, or as we walk down State Street in Madison. We’ve got to do something! The need is great; the suffering profound, our compassion, guilt, generosity, compel us to action.

Those of us who are involved in direct ministry and outreach to homeless people know the complexity of the situation. We know all about the many reasons why people become and remain homeless—illness, mental illness, poor life choices, imprisonment, alcohol and drug abuse. We also know about the systemic issues, a medical system that fails the neediest; racism; lack of education; family systems that have been in cycles of poverty, violence, abuse, etc., for generations; a 2% vacancy rate for rental housing in Madison. There are also all of the ways our local, state, and federal government have pursued policies that contribute to the problems that they are trying to solve. We know that the help we offer is often little more than a bandaid.

The problems are complex. The need is so great. What can we do? What should we do?

We should do what we are doing.

We should be advocates. We should be advocates for those who have no voice and no power. We should call our institutions: government, schools, universities, businesses, communities of faith, to respond to the need in our communities. We should demand that they serve the needs of the powerless, the hungry, the weak. A society is judged not on what it accomplishes, on its wealth or military power, but on how it treats those who are at its margins, the impotent, widows, orphans, the elderly.

We should be compassionate and merciful. As Americans, we claim that all are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. As a Christian, I believe that all are created in the image of God, that we share with the vilest criminal, the disabled, the mentally ill, a common human nature that reflects the nature of God. The humanity that unites us across race, class, and gender demands that we build a community in which all have access to the basic necessities of life and all are able to flourish as human beings.

When we can do nothing more than offer a sandwich, a sleeping bag, a kind word, perhaps a hug, we are offering what is often called a ministry of presence, a willingness and commitment to be among those who Jesus called “the least of these.” Jesus told us that when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner, we are feeding, clothing, visiting Jesus Christ himself.

The problems will remain. The suffering will continue. We cannot solve the world’s problems, whether it’s the homeless in Madison or unimaginable horrors in Syria. The love we share is the love of Christ. When we share that love we are affirming the dignity of every human being and we are bearing witness to the image of God that we all reflect. We are also calling ourselves and our community to our better nature and to a deeper humanity.

We have to be the conscience, the moral compass of our community. Our voices call our community to become better than it is, to be a place and a people that protect the neediest among us. Our actions, as futile as they may be, challenge everyone to reach out beyond themselves to their neighbors in need and join in the effort to help those who cannot help themselves.

So Tami, that’s what we have to do. We have to continue to advocate, to help, and to be present with the weakest members of our society. It’s hard, exhausting, and often demoralizing. In our actions, our presence, and our love, we bear witness to God’s redemptive love and grace. And through it all, we need to pray.