It was a Dickens of a Christmas

While in the process of planning her Christmas vacation to London, Gail Wells (our executive director) decided to Google London street ministries just out of curiosity to see if there might be a similar ministry over there. Curiosity turned into discovery, which turned into a call to action, and in the end into a new connection with like minded people on the other side of the pond.

She made plans to meet with Kurt Erickson, the leader of the London branch of international Eloes Ministries , and took with her a number of scarves to give away that were hand made by a couple of ladies from South Sound Community Church. When she arrived Pastor Kurt invited her to see for herself the London streets with him and his ministry team.

Every Saturday at 6:00 AM, the people with nowhere to go gather in the shadow of the Westminster Cathedral. They wait expectantly for the small break in their unsettled not so routine days of searching for food, shelter, and hope. Coffee and donuts give way to singing, preaching, and praying. But most importantly the fellowship and support within this group of fellow travelers is what gives them a small glimpse of stability and a large measure of ears to listen and shoulders to lean on.

Gail says that the street people she met are much like the ones she gets together with back home in Olympia. The middle aged gentleman who has passed the last several years on the street creating artistic pictures…the younger guy who is hoping to reunite with his family someday soon…the ones who have fallen through the cracks of addiction and poor health. Also familiar are the ways in which the ministry team members freely give of their hearts and hugs in order to bring some relief and joy to their friends.

The story of how this assembly came to be named is a wonderful example of how community can grow out of unexpected circumstances. Some time ago Pastor Kurt had planned to take a group of street people he knew to a program at an institutional church, hoping for his friends to experience fellowship. But instead - the people associated with this church building having decided that ‘the least of these’ were no concern of theirs - the pastor and his group found themselves deliberately locked out of the service. A sad and troubled Pastor Kurt was met with the optimistic wisdom of one of his street friends who said ‘Don’t worry pastor – we are the church, we are the church without walls, we can have a service right here on this doorstep’. And so they did, and so they continue to this day meeting as the Church Without Walls.