Hope Needs Help!

I'm writing to pass along information regarding our sister congregation, Hope Outreach Mission UCC, located at C & Indiana in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood. From a friend of the congregation:

"I'm writing as a follow-up to the meeting at Hope Outreach this afternoon, to support the church in its ongoing men's ministry, which is under fire from Licenses and Inspections. During the meeting, the Phila L&I inspector showed up again and informed Pastor Deborah Savage that he would return with a "cease and desist" letter on Monday, after which there would be one week's grace till he returned the following Monday (Aug. 9) with police to remove all the men from the building.

Plans were put into motion in several directions, including working on a request for a zoning change (from the present "assembly" zoning to "multiuse," which could include permission to allow the men to remain in the building overnight); contacting various city officials (from the local Councilperson to the Mayor); making contingency plans for housing the men if, in fact, they are barred from the church; and setting up a fund within the Association to provide the money to continue this fight.

As background, Hope has had this men's ministry in place for nearly a year, taking homeless men off the street, getting them off substance addictions, helping them turn their lives around through recovery programs, and gving them a hand up to self-sufficiency. In the course of this year, some 200 men's lives have been touched. (We saw many of them at the Spring Association Meeting at Chestnut Hill.) Currently, nineteen men are staying at Hope overnight. They receive breakfast and dinner and a place to clean up and sleep safely. These men have done the community a wonderful service in cleaning up the park across Indiana Ave. from the church, which was a drug park previously. The surrounding community supports Hope in this ministry.

The plan for now is that Hope will have an all-night prayer vigil every night during August. They are asking pastors and parishioners in the Association (and elsewhere) to commit to helping with these vigils. We are also asking that individuals and churches consider contributing to what we will call the Hope Outreach Support Fund. Checks should be made payable to the Philadelphia Association, UCC, and write "Hope Support" on the memo line. Mail to Philadelphia Association, c/o N. Krody, PO Box 24005, Philadelphia, PA 19139-0005.

A local chapter of "Mrs. E.J." is being established. Nationally in the U.C.C., Ministers for Racial, Social, and Economic Justice (MRSEJ) has existed for many years. Locally, the Revs. Dwayne Royster and Linda Noonan have agreed to provide leadership. Clergy (including licensed ministers, and other lay leaders) in the Association are invited to join them at another meeting next Tuesday, Aug. 2, at 1 p.m., at Hope (C & Indiana, in Kensington) for a follow-up meeting.

Most of all, please share this with your congregations and keep Hope Outreach Ministries in your personal and public prayers in coming weeks."