In the parking lot of First Presbyterian Church of Hayward in Castro Valley, California, a village of five tiny homes is the most visible manifestation of the church’s effort to address homelessness. “We’ve come to the theological place, maybe philosophical, that housing is a human right,” said the Rev. Jake Medcalf, Hayward’s lead pastor. “If we don’t provide housing in our neighborhoods, especially in an area like the Bay, we are literally — I don’t think it’s dramatic, I think it’s real — condemning people to die on the streets.”
Susan Ehterton, a real estate developer and ruling elder at Arlington Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Virginia with 35 years of experience in redevelopment and affordable housing, explained the church’s transformation as moving “from one stone edifice to another stone edifice” — one with 173 units of affordable housing and, as it turns out, room for the congregation as well.
With unanimous approval from Olympia Presbytery, Longview Presbyterian Church in Longview, Washington, is donating a 2-acre vacant lot adjacent to the church property to Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington (HOSWWA). The land will provide space for 48 affordable housing units, about half of which will be reserved for people transitioning from homelessness.
It was early March, and the daily routine at Atlanta’s Mercy Community Church had been thrown for a loop.
Every Monday through Thursday, the church is a gathering place for around 50 people who are experiencing homelessness or are marginally housed to do everything from talking and sharing a couple of meals to working on getting help with legal and medical issues, as well as other needs. But suddenly, with the rapid spread of the coronavirus, gathering wasn’t a great idea.
With a 30-pound pack on his back and a mission in his heart, the Rev. Zachary Morton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Morgantown, West Virginia, set out Sept. 21 on an eight-day, nearly 150-mile walk to the state capitol in Charleston.
With unanimous approval from Olympia Presbytery, Longview Presbyterian Church in Longview, Washington, is donating a 2-acre vacant lot adjacent to the church property to Housing Opportunities of Southwest Washington (HOSWWA). The land will provide space for 48 affordable housing units, about half of which will be reserved for people transitioning from homelessness.
The Presbyterian Women of the Presbytery of Geneva in New York’s Finger Lakes region has become the 400th congregation or group to accept the Matthew 25 invitation.
From fighting against wage theft to pushing for more affordable housing, the Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance has made its mark by challenging injustice in their southern California enclave since 1992.
