Friends, Adventists, Countrymen lend me your ears;
I come not to bury the Open Door, but to praise them.
Although the truth is, I only think of them as The Open Door when someone specifically asks the name of the church that so dependably turns up so many Sundays to feed the hungry. Currently in Abbotsford there is one other church that serves lunch on the first Sunday of the month, leaving the other 40 Sundays of the year to the brown bag lunch people. For many Sundays they were simply the people to me, those folks who showed up with coffee and handed out their trademark bagged lunches. I must confess it was quite some time before I spoke to any of them. While a bagged lunch may sound rather mundane it is a somewhat harsh fact of life that there is no other source of food available to the hungry on Sunday, which makes even a simple bagged lunch akin to manna from heaven.
Calling them the brown bag lunch people immediately identifies who you are speaking of to other members of the homeless community. While members of the bag lunch gang were away on vacation this past summer, some went so far as to press gang their mother into service to ensure that lunch was served and their commitment to be there week in and week out kept. In fact recently they were close to an hour late (due to other commitments) but none of the waiting multitude left. These people had been so dependable that, unlike with other groups, the crowd just waited with only slightly strained patience for them to arrive.
Often their kids come along to help serve the food, injecting energy and spirit that only the young can add. There is also something soothing about watching the antics of a dog and having the opportunity to pet them. As Charles Schultz penned “Happiness is a warm puppy.”
One of the things that the homeless really appreciate, since “kindness” often comes with that string attached, is that they are not harangued with how wonderful God is and that their troubles would disappear if only they joined whatever congregation was being “kind”. The preaching by those of the Open Door flock who so faithfully serve lunch comes in the way they live their Faith. Not fancy words but actions, not pressure but a quiet invitation to join them in worship on the Sabbath.
The ironic misfortune of the Homeless in Abbotsford is that if the many other churches, especially the large well established congregations (for Abbotsford is time and again noted for the number and size of its church assemblies), were to be as steadfast and committed to living their faith in deeds not formulaic words, so much could be accomplished to reclaim the lives and spirits of those who have fallen so low. So while the previous articles written, posted on www.homelessinabbotsford.com and sent into “Letters to the Editor” were to say a very substantial THANK YOU to the members of Pastor Bill’s flock it was also in the hope that in their actions other congregations would find the inspiration to serve. I also hope that, as Pastor Bill told me he was working on an article for national Newsletter publication, other congregations will be encouraged to seek out a way to make this kind of significant contribution in their communities. So thanks to the Open Door and I go now to hand over a copy of this heartfelt thanks. After all it is Sunday lunchtime and thus I can hand it to members of the Open Door congregation, saying thank you in person as well as on the page.