Most Churches reach out to the homeless during November. This might take the form of feeding the homeless during Thanksgiving week. In the news is one Church that got into trouble for the homeless ministry. The Church provided a weekly meal to the homeless in their area, but the neighbors objected to the homeless being attracted to their neighborhood. The neighborhood got the Church’s permit from the city revoked. An argument ensued between the neighborhood and the Church. How do you balance the Ministry of the Church to the homeless with the need for security in the surrounding neighborhood?

Jesus said that the “poor you will always have with you” (MAT 26:11 NIV). There will always be some who are rich and some who are poor. The Church needs to reach out to the poor. Most Churches have some sort of security system – even a close by member that gets a call when some alarm fires off. You can always tighten up the security with web cameras and sensors. But how does that enhance your ministry to the homeless. How about taking off one Sunday from worship to reach out into the community. You can take hot coffee and donuts to the homeless on the streets at the city park. Or you can go door to door to invite people to Church during the 11:00 AM hour. (The people who are at home then are obviously not regular Church attenders.) Or you can pray along the streets and byways for the city. All of these remind us that the Church gathers on Sundays, but reaches out to the community during the week.

What are some innovative ways that your Church can go beyond the 4 walls and reach out to the Homeless this Thanksgiving?