Last Thursday we lost the appeal to the Board of Adjustment of the City of Phoenix. What that means is we are still defined as a “charity dining hall” when we have a worship service with breakfast for the poor and homeless of our neighborhood. How audacious to have the City redefine a church based on their understanding (or not) of who we are! It really blows my heart!
But, no worry. We go on. We take the next step. Conferring with our attorneys will make that clear soon. Step by step. Inch by inch. Move the mountain by standing, walking, continuing, pushing, plodding….and especially hoping…hoping for a new day where the words of Isaiah 58 are lived out by all:
No, the kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. If you do these things, your salvation will come like the dawn. Yes, your healing will come quickly. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer, ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.
Sounds like “church” to me!
Saturday Breakfast Worship
Dottie Escobedo-Frank 
I just read about the city of Phoenix trying to challenge your breakfasts. Keep up the good fight and continue on your mission of helping the homeless.
Kim from Missouri.
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I used to live in Phoenix, not far from your location. Isn’t your Church very close to Senator McCain’s residence or has he since moved from North Central Ave? Has he offered his help?
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Did not Jesus say when you do onto the lest of thses
you do onto me
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I just read your story online, and it brought tears to my eyes. I am a Pagan Minister, living in the MidWest, and your ministry, those you help, inspired me. Too often, those who think that the homeless are a blight on their neighborhoods, even for just a morning, are the ones fearful that they, themselves, could end up that way. These people that you help, they have rights too, but those in their homes, cushy and warm on rainy nights, do not see these people. They are blind to them, until they come face to face through ministries like yours. Then they are fearful, because of the 1% who have a criminal element. Most do not wish to become homeless, I know I didn’t, and it happened twice with my husband and children in tow. I was lucky, I have a wonderful friend who took us in, helped us, and we got back on our feet. Ministries like your outreach breakfasts, need to happen more often, so that hope can be instilled in those who need it most. Love needs to return to this world, it needs to be seen and heard, and those neighbors who are complaining, will be the same ones who complain that no one is reaching out to them, should they become like those they condemn.
Even in our Pagan Communities, we have charities that outreach, just as your church does. We give clothes, food, shelter, and hope in human kind. We show them that there are programs tha tcan help, if only for a little while, but most of all, we spread love. Feeding those in need, is a chance to sit down, get to know them as the Humans They Are, and to share stories. It allows them Human Contact, something our souls cannot truly survive without. A simple acknowledgement goes a long way to helping a the soul to know they are not invisible. It matters not what faith you are, in times of need, what matters is that love, hope and some real comfort, are given. Your church knows this, and shows this, and is now fighting for this. I will pray that you are successful in your endeavours, that you win this case in court, for your work is good. It helps those who need it most. It gives them a day to look forward to, where they are no longer invisible, but human, once again. Thank you, not only for the inspiration, but for the work you do. You are affecting lives, instead of putting them down for the situation they are in. You are encouraging them to find inner peace, with God, so that they can feel whole again. Thank you.
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Hi there! This blog post couldn’t be written much better!
Looking through this article reminds me of my previous roommate!
He always kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him.
Fairly certain he’s going to have a good read.
Thanks for sharing!
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