A recent Associated Press story told the tale of an Ohio church attempting to serve as a shelter for the homeless. Police, it was said, filed eighteen criminal charges alleging zoning and building code violations. The pastor countered with a federal lawsuit.
Many years ago, I was nominally associated with a place of worship in a nearby town. The parishioners there encountered an almost identical problem.
Their offer to the homeless of a place to sleep one night per week during the winter months drew the attention – and menace – of the local zoning officials.
The chair of the lay leadership committee asked me what they and the minister should do.
I thought about it. “It’s a first amendment issue,” I finally smiled.
“First amendment?” he asked incredulously. “What do sleepovers have to do with freedom of religion?”
“Everything,” I answered. “Tell the zoning people that you’re conducting an all-night prayer vigil. If a few people happen to doze off, well, that’s the way it goes.”
So they did. And the zoning officials relented.
I once would have called that progress. Now I think that the progress we obtained years ago was an illusion. The plight of homeless people everywhere makes it an illusion.
And yet – be it progress or be it illusion -- We must continue to try. We must continue to try.
I’m Scott Summers, and that is my perspective.
