Chosing Not to Sleep on the Streets

I made a decision last night to not sleep on the street as planned. At first I was ashamed of my decision. The Rev. Megan Rohrer told those who gathered there that sleeping on the streets that night would not make you a better person but if you went home, just remember you could not do it even one night, when all these youth don't have that choice (paraphrasing there to get the gist!) She was right, it would not have made me a better person, but knowing myself well enough, it would have made more smug. I would have been more critical of colleagues who didn't even show up at all. She was right, I could not, of my own free will, choose to sleep out after all.

But I do know a little something of what it is like to no longer have the choice. I did spend one week of my life homeless, but unlike these youth, it was thru my own stubbornness, my own stupidity. Every day I saw where people had found my clothes and possessions that I tried to hide, since I couldn't carry them all, having been ransacked and little by little I lost them all but for the one small bag I carried with me. I did not have to sleep on hard streets, like most of the youth and other homeless folks do here in the city, I had park, I would crawl into the underbrush and cover myself with leaves so no one would see me. However, I did only have to do this for a week. And I did move on from there. But that experience stuck with me and is why I work with SF Night Ministry and it was why I joined the rally and march last night.

But I still chose not to sleep on the street.

One of the things I have learned in ministry is that it is tough to find out you have limits. There are just certain lines you come to and cannot cross at that moment. Sometimes all you can do is bear silent witness to others suffering, pain, anger etc. and even there, you still reach your limit. I heard things last night that I did not agree with, things I did not want to hear, things I needed to hear. And sometimes I could not hear a thing as I began to wrestle with what it all really meant, what was I supposed to do, how was I supposed to witness?

I chose to stay as long as the speeches, then I chose to go home. My limit, that line last night was that I could not sleep on the street.

Will I go to another rally like this? You bet I will! And another, and another and another, for as long as I am able. And who knows, maybe next time, or the next time or the time after that, I may cross that line and choose to sleep on the street! or Maybe that will never happen. We will see.

-Bishop Rusty Clyma

Why I go on Street Retreat

1. Missionary to the homeless: Called by Sts. Mary & Martha, Christ Church, Her Church (Ebenezer) and St. Francis to be the Executive Director of WELCOME - a communal response to poverty, I also serve as a missionary to the homeless. By being out on the streets I can learn about the services that are or are not being offered by other organizations. Beyond that being on the street is an opportunity for those I serve to serve me (like Jesus' foot washing) and provides me with the opportunity to listen to those living in poverty in a new way. Like my encounter with the gentleman above (pictured on the left). My chance meeting with him helped him to change his life, clean up a bit and the picture of him on the right was taken during coffee hour at St. Francis Lutheran a year later. The pictures show what I have experienced hundreds of times over on the streets. Live change when you take a moment to listen.
2. Educating people about poverty Issues: My time on the streets helps me to feel in my bones what it feels like to live in poverty. It also provides me with many of the encounters and stories that I talk about in my sermons throughout the rest of the year. Additionally, in a time when stories about people living in poverty and deep need overwhelm us, street retreats seem to capture people's attention in a unique and powerful way. Perhaps it is like any issue. We always care more when it affects someone we know or love. You may not have the ability, time or privilege to spend a week on the streets learning about poverty. But you may have the ability to read about my stories, share them with others or invite me to your congregation to share my stories first hand. If you want to learn more about the laws and politics that keep people in poverty, or about the ways that those living in poverty can be ministers, then I hope you will read about my street retreat.
   
3. Begging for Change: I use the experiences I have on the streets to lobby politicians for change, to create new programs at WELCOME that will address the root causes of poverty and in a very literal way to panhandle. Yes, I beg those who are moved by my stories to support WELCOME with donations. This year while I'm at Churchwide, any money beyond what I'll need to eat will be donated to WELCOME. My goal is to raise $6,000. This is the amount of my sabbatical tuition. This will enable me to begin my Doctorate of Ministry at Pacific School of Religion, where I will study and discern the next phase of WELCOME. Help me, and WELCOME learn how to transform from a homeless ministry to a communal response to poverty, from a ministry of presence to a ministry of justice. We hope that our work with be a model for the rest of the country. So if you feel like this blog is educating you, please help support my education. Donate if you are able, I beg you.

Thanks for your support and for going on this journey will me.

Pastor Megan Rohrer

Invitation to follow my street retreat

Will Work For Food

I'm writing today to announce that I will be participating in a street retreat in Minneapolis, MN on August 17-23rd during the ELCA Churchwide Assembly.

I'm calling it: Will Work for Food - because at this assembly the ELCA will yet again be voting to decide if LGBT folk should be allowed to be pastors. Or as they'll say it: if gay and lesbians in "life long monogamous relationships" can be on the "official roster" of the church. Lutherans have been studying this issue since 1976 (it's actually the 6th study by my count if you count those of the churches that preceded the ELCA).

I am a pastor. I have been doing ministry. Ordained by Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries, my ordination followed Martin Luther's tradition of ordaining pastor's when bishops try to require a vow of celibacy (which Luther thought was against the gospel).

As a pastor who works with the homeless and hungry, on the one hand I'm hoping the church will vote to change their policy. On another level I'll be begging for my food the entire assembly - as a way to point out how much money the church (and those who are allowed to vote) spend on an assembly and how we should pay attention to those living in poverty who deserve pastors even when they can't afford them (or the upkeep of their building).

My plane ticket was free - a gift from United Airlines for mechanical delay on my flight back from Philadelphia. My registration for the assembly cost $50 to be a visitor - without registering as a visitor the armed guards won't let me inside the building. No really.

I plan to wear my clergy collar for my entire retreat and to carry a cardboard sign that proclaims will work for food. I will blog - both with words and with video. I also hope to bring some flyers that let people know what I'm up to, so they can learn about this blog and my work at Welcome in San Francisco.

I am beginning to learn about the laws about homelessness in Minneapolis. Also I'm thinking about mosquitoes and how to prevent being eating alive.

Since begging will be what provides me with my meals on my journey, I begin now by begging you to support Welcome. Send donations now or please let others know about what I'm doing so we can call attention to poverty.

I truly believe that when Lutherans cannot agree on policy, words or theology that we can agree on justice, to help the poor and help our neighbor. Join me August 17-23.

Blessings,
Pastor Megan Rohrer
Executive Director
Welcome - a communal response to poverty
www.welcomeministry.org