TruthBook Religious News Blog

Services in Woodruff Park break down barriers to reach those who are in need

By Drew Jubera

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Saturday, December 20, 2008

They just showed up. On foot. From all directions. As if risen right out of the same downtown streets that many of them live on.

About a dozen homeless men and women, joined by volunteers and other churchgoers, sat shoulder to shoulder in the cold last Sunday in front of the fountain at the north end of Woodruff Park. They wore hats and gloves and heavy coats. They toted backpacks and black plastic garbage bags. One guy chewed on a cheese sandwich.

They were ready for church.

“I appreciate all you huddled people,” began Carole Maddux, the Episcopal deacon leading the service. “Let us take a moment to be silent and claim this place. And call on God … to make his presence known.”

Surrounded by downtown skyscrapers, she stood in front of a folding table topped with a silver cross, a chalice, a plastic bottle of grape juice to be served with communion —- “Some of our people don’t need to drink wine,” Maddux said.

The Church of the Common Ground was in session.

“We’re Episcopal, and we have a liturgy,” Maddux explained earlier. “It can cause us to try to control every little thing: The acolytes should stand here, the candles should be lit there.

“But here, you have to go with the spirit. I’ll be talking about the firmament, and a flock of pigeons will go by. Or someone will chime in with an opinion.”

A homeless ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, the Church of the Common Ground convenes in Woodruff Park every Sunday at 1 p.m. (January through February, it moves indoors to the ministry’s nearby rented storefront at 170 Trinity Ave. S.W.) It was started about two years ago by the Rev. Bob Book, a Lutheran minister for almost two decades, and his wife, Holly Book.

After years in traditional churches, the open-air, come-one-come-all ministry felt to them like a return to Christianity’s roots.

“This is what Christ had in mind —- a church without walls,” said Holly Book. “The [Episcopal] church has strayed from this. The bishop is recognizing the importance of us to be out there and with people who are poor.”

Rick Hutchison, 58, lives in a shelter. He often attends the Sunday service and volunteers at the ministry’s indoor space on Trinity Avenue. A variety of services are offered there during the week, including a health clinic, addiction recovery meetings and a weekly movie (recent showing: “Prancer”).

But it’s not viewed by the homeless who come there as a traditional soup kitchen. Its most important service, Hutchison said, is spiritual.

Bob Book, 59, was ordained an Episcopal priest in October at a ceremony at the park.

“People will say to me, ‘Someday, pastor, you’ll be blessed with a church,’ ” Book said. “And I say, ‘We already have one. It just doesn’t have walls. And I don’t want any walls. Once you erect walls, you start keeping people out, either by accident or intentionally. I want to be visible to everyone.

“Within the Christian community, none of us feels like the Earth is our home,” he added. “And part of the journey is finding our home in Christ, our eternal home. So in that way, all of us are homeless. Some of us just have shelters.”

Labels: Bob Book, church, Drew Jubera, Episcopalians, homelessness