Basement doors to the church are left open during business hours giving visitors access to church bathrooms, and a moment of shelter in inclement weather. The church serves coffee and sandwiches to visitors from a side door on an adjacent church building.

On the front lawn at the base of the church steps is a statue of a church official. Visitors to the church often meet at the base of the statue using it as a center of operations for the coming day.

The church has placed a handsome brass plaque at the foot of the statue listing rules for visitors and tourists. The rules are simple: No alcohol or drug use … No fighting … No Panhandling … No peeing outside on church grounds; just the kind of rules you'd expect to find posted on a tourist attraction.

Obviously, the plaque of rules has been targeted for a specific group of visitors; visitors with no other place to be, no bunches of people to see, and no permanent address to call home. The statue has become a sort of refuge for the homeless … a safe zone on sacred ground with important things like God and bathrooms close by.

The statue has become a place where the wearied wait away the day in relative safety. It has become a place where the tired put down bedrolls and backpacks and fannies, if only for a few minutes.

The statue has become a place where family and friends leave notes and messages for friends and family gone AWOL; it has become a place where people leave homemade cookies and clean socks for those who need socks and cookies.

I salute the church, church officials and church members who have worked hard to make our less fortunate friends feel welcomed at our Father’s house …

And the homeless will always be welcomed ... at least until setup for the church’s annual Block Party Fundraiser begins.

So, let the pilgrimage begin! Is anyone really bringing a donkey?

¶ 9:00 PM