From the Pastor's Desk
Pastor's Message September 2020
Dear People of God at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church,
Hope you are all safe and well.
As you might know or maybe you don’t, we were given a lovely gift of security cameras at the church. They are at various places around the building and one inside. So if and when you walk up to the front door, look up and smile.
The cameras have picked up a bit of activity at the church, especially on the east side alcove area, where the yard hydrant and hoses are located. Apparently our church has become the place for a couple of folks to come and bathe themselves. For sure they are washing their hair. If it was not for the camera, we would not know they were there.
They don’t leave a mess, they use the water, they wind up the hose and then they are gone. It maybe happens a couple of times a week and it always happens in the early morning hours.
What is your initial response to such activity? At first I was a bit upset. I don’t feel good about folks using the church without asking, not that they really could.
Then I came to my compassionate senses and felt badly for them. I wondered what circumstances lead to their needing to bathe outside, in the dark, with no doubt very cold water. I wondered what circumstances lead to their lack of resources, even the most basic of them like water and shelter.
I came to understand that our church can provide for folks in ways we did not even imagine. If we can provide a bit of water and a place to get clean what harm is there in that? If we can provide resources that some seem to lack, why would we not want to do that?
My concern is that word might get around that Swan’s Trail is a free place to get water and wash up. (Big whoop!) And I would be concerned about garbage and litter, which there has been a little of that. (Really?) But the more I thought about it, I soon came to realize, as long as they don’t make a huge mess and roll the hose back up, what’s the big deal? So I needed a bit of compassion altering to see folks who are in a very desperate situation and they believed our church might be gracious and generous enough to accommodate them in their need. I hate it when I get caught.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at Swan's Trail 2020 Newsletters