The Friendship House ministry has its origins in the informal and spontaneous ministry of shelter which was offered at Meeting Ground’s former thrift store at 216 North Market St. That ministry was forced to close due to fire regulation violations on March 31, 1987. On Easter Sunday a breakfast celebration was held on the street outside the closed shelter. The planners and helpers at that first breakfast were mainly homeless folk. During a brief service which preceded the meal, the Meeting Ground Community pledged to continue the struggle for the Friendship House Ministry.

By September of that year, Immanuel Episcopal Church and First and Central Presbyterian Church had joined the ministry as partners. The new group was prepared to begin the ministry of daytime hospitality again once a location could be found. In the interval it was decided to use the breakfast model as a way to begin the ministry and continue a close relationship with the homeless until the formal site could be opened. Thus in September of 1987, the breakfast began on the street in front of 216 N. Market St.

From the beginning the breakfast was highly successful. It served its purpose so well that it was continued even after Friendship House opened its daytime shelter on 4^th St. During the winter of 1987-88, through the cooperation of the Immanuel Metropolitan Community Church, the breakfast moved indoors at 214 Market St. In the spring, it moved to the street again in the park at the corner of 4^th & Shirley Sts. There it remained throughout the summer and fall of 1988. As winter again approached, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church offered to host the Sunday Breakfast in its church hall. The breakfast has been located there ever since.

Philosophy

The goals and objectives of the Sunday Breakfast Ministry are these:

• To share the life of the homeless and develop mutual acquaintance and friendship.
• To involve both homeless folk and church members in the preparation and service of a nourishing, communal meal.
• To offer an atmosphere of warmth, caring and presence on a morning of the week when virtually all of the normal refuges of the homeless are closed.
• To offer a neutral site of friendship and interaction for the homeless community which is so often segregated and fragmented in different shelters and on the streets.

The Breakfast Ministry currently involves twelve Christian communities and serves between 75 and 120 persons each Sunday.

Top
Home