Homelessness Week

The Dean gets his copy of The Big Issue from Chaplain Rob.

CATHEDRAL NEWSLETTER - 8 August 2024

Friends in Christ, it's currently ‘Homelessness Week’ (5-11 August). This is an opportunity to remember and assist some of the most needy people in Australia.

On Tuesday, the Cathedral hosted a special ‘community day’ with a variety of government and charity services present. Our Community Chaplaincy team did an extraordinary job - once again - of welcoming and feeding the 120 or so street people who attended (photos here). 

Homelessness is an awful situation to be in. The 2021 national census found that over 122,000 Australians were homeless – this category includes rough sleepers, those in homeless shelters or boarding houses, ‘couch surfers’, and those in severely crowded dwellings. Another 93,000 people were found to be living in marginal housing, such as caravan parks.

So what is a home? Several speakers at this week’s launch event said that a home is a stable, secure foundation from which to launch into broader society. It’s almost impossible to help others when you lack something so basic. As Daryl Kerrigan taught us in The Castle, “It's not a house. It's a home”. That is, a home is far more than just bricks and mortar. 

At the Cathedral we’ve taken some small steps in trying to care for our homeless and housing-insecure neighbours. Our Monday and Tuesday ‘Street T’ breakfasts are, at heart, an expression of Christian hospitality. Meeting on the street - just outside the Cathedral building - we serve a simple meal and, most importantly, lend a listening ear.

Our simple slogan is ‘Breakfast, Bible & Buddies’!

As we’ve been making available a particular space and providing some much needed calories, really we’ve been opening up our hearts and holding out the hope that we have in Jesus.

Sometimes this involves sharing a Bible story - we’ve just completed the opening chapter of Luke; sometimes it involves saying a prayer. 

Wonderfully many of our ‘community members’ already have a simple faith; some of them are well grounded and well taught. I think of Alex, Fred and James who love to study the Bible, and of Jack who - despite domestic violence and a terrible car accident - seeks to follow his Lord each day, and Maureen who has shown new humility and grace in learning to tolerate those she finds triggering (all names changed for privacy). God has been at work in their lives well before we've come along!

And yet, as a whole, all our neighbours in need experience significant chaos and disruption. Whether it’s due to limited finances, insecure housing, relational breakdown or physical or mental illness, life is typically atypical. It’s not uncommon for someone to come once or twice - with great enthusiasm - and then not to be seen again.

Our hospitality must of course be friendly, but sadly we cannot ensure the longevity of our friendship. As a result we must point them to the one sure foundation; to the best and most lasting friend. 

It probably shouldn’t surprise me that many homeless people already know Jesus.

After all, Jesus was homeless himself.

...Born in a stable (Luke 2:7); seeking refuge in Egypt (Matthew 2:14); having no place to lay his head (Luke 9:58). And that’s all but a reflection of the homelessness and poverty he pursued in setting aside the courts of heaven and ‘making himself nothing’, ‘so that we through his poverty might become rich’ (Philippians 2:7, 2 Corinthians 8:9). 

So please be in prayer for our neighbours in need, that God would bless them in every way. Give thanks for those who already know Jesus, and pray for their witness and ours to those who don’t.

And please ask that St Andrew’s might be a place that practices genuine, generous and abiding hospitality, for the blessing of many and the glory of God.

This prayer has been prepared by Ian Bennett from our Wednesday night Healing Service:

Heavenly Father, We thank you that you are gracious, kind and loving. We pray for all those affected by homelessness. 
We read in Genesis that every human has been made in your image, but we often look down on these people. Please forgive us for those times when we've ignored their cries. 
We pray for the couch surfers and rough sleepers, for those in unstable jobs, for those in poor health or in troubled relationships. Have mercy Lord.
We pray for all those working in this area, that they might champion justice and a fair go, and for new ideas to give people hope. 
We thank you for our community chaplain, Rob, and the new team you've raised up. Please give them perseverance in this ministry and enable them by your Spirit to know when to listen, when to speak and how to act. 
Please help us to provide generously so that the needy might have adequate food, clothing, and accommodation. We pray that we might point clearly to the One who provides real peace and security now, as well as the promise of an eternal home.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Warmly in Christ,

Rob Elder
Community Chaplain

P.S. Rob was out selling The Big Issue this week with one of his friends, and you can read more about that here!