By Donna Lamb

On any given Sunday, beginning at 2 PM, if you happen to walk through Madison Square Park in Manhattan, you’ll see people gathered around an alter, holding a worship service complete with scriptural readings, prayers, the singing of hymns, a short sermon, and communion for all those who wish to receive it. This will be followed by a "second meal," also served from the alter, to make sure that no one – participant or passerby alike – goes away hungry in body or spirit.

What you will be witnessing is Ecclesia Ministries of New York in action. As Clyde Kuemmerle(right), Ecclesia’s founder and Executive Director, explained, its purpose is to provide a "church" where people who live on the street without suitable shelter or other resources can feel at ease and be joined by others on what they consider their own territory, instead of having to enter a brick and mortar church where, no matter how welcoming the congregation, they may still feel out of place.

(Winston Moses Singing to your left) Ecclesia will soon be expanding into two new congregations, one in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem and the other in Tompkins Square Park in the Lower East Side. They, too, will offer the same mutual support, pastoral care, and worship as traditional communities of faith, but with increased emphasis on the needs and issues common to those who are marginalized in this society. Each of these new congregations will have the sponsorship of five or more housed congregations, and, in addition to Sunday afternoon services, volunteers from these congregations will reach out to folks in the park on other days, offering spiritual support and a listening presence. There will also be activities such as weekly meetings to discuss issues that arise in the homeless community, covering everything from new services that might be available to them to the need for bathrooms, or difficulties like marauding young males causing trouble and selective enforcement by the police.
(David Lewicki delivers Sermon right)

As to why he founded Ecclesia Ministries of New York, Clyde Kuemmerle said that in the approximately 25 years he’s been working with people on the street, always in connection with a housed congregation, he’s tried to involve them in the Church by inviting them to services. "Sometimes somebody actually begins to attend and may even become a church member, but it's very rare," he said. And he explained that there are lots of reasons why these efforts fail, having little to do with a congregation itself and its behavior towards un-housed individuals. Most of it has to do with the circumstances under which people on the street must live without proper bathing facilities and all sorts of other things that cause them to feel cut off from those not in their situation.

The more he became aware of the problems of the homeless population, the more keenly Kuemmerle knew that these problems are addressed by life in the Church – what are called the "gifts" of the Church, including hospitality, continuity, forgiveness, prayer, the open table, hope, community, a greater sense of self-worth, and a deeper understanding of God's love as revealed in the life of his son, Jesus Christ. "These are the reason people all over the globe go to church – because it provides these gifts," said Kuemmerle. "So it stood to reason that we ought to provide these to persons out there on the street, many of whom also need these very things." (Karen Gourgey Plays Guitar)

Kuemmerle went on to say that he believes that what keeps some people on the street is that they have lost hope and that without faith you don't have much hope. "We are trying to find ways to help those on the street find themselves and then get back the rest of their lives," he concluded. (Tijuana singing Left)

Individuals or groups from any Christian denomination are welcome to become a part of Ecclesia Ministries, volunteering six to eight hours per month providing pastoral care and participating in the Sunday afternoon Eucharist. The only requirement is the desire to share the love of Christ with all those who one encounters.

Chad Rancourt (left), who is a member of Holy Apostles Episcopal Church, said that his exposure to Ecclesia has revealed to him what now seems so obvious – "that we need to take the Eucharist out to those who, for whatever reason, are not going to come into a church. We have this wonderful tradition of setting up our houses of God ready to serve all who will cross our doors," he continued. "Ecclesia brings this tradition of hospitality, the Eucharist, and inclusivity out to those who are not served by the traditional housed churches."

For more information about how you or your church can volunteer, please contact Clyde Kuemmerle at (212) 924-0167, (917) 617-5945 or clyde@ecclesiany.org .