The Supreme Court has upheld a ban on sleeping outdoors in a homelessness case. By a 6-3 vote along partisan lines, the court ruled homeless residents are prohibited from sleeping outdoors. My own sense of the prophetic, especially when indignant,…
Supreme Court says cities may fine or arrest homeless people for sleeping
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling frees municipalities to fine or arrest homeless people who camp on sidewalks or in parks and other public spaces. Justices ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that an ordinance in Grants Pass, Ore., prohibiting public…
The Jesus Room
The Jesus Room lies in the bowels of Richmond’s cavernous First Baptist Church, one of those stately old churches that takes up most of a city block. It’s a part of the basement floor of the church, comprising a community…
Homeless is not the way you want to spend your sunset years, but more and more older Americans find themselves there
Scott, a 63-year-old former chef and factory worker, was trudging toward the tent encampment where he lived on the outskirts of Richmond, Va., when he found fellow camper Ed sprawled on the path, unconscious. “It scared the hootenannies out of…
What we’re learning since our homeless church moved in with a homeless shelter
One year ago, our new church was just starting to form and trying to flesh out our identity. We spent the first seven months “doing church” in a large classroom on the local university campus, where we focused on cultivating…
Los Angeles faces a homeless ‘emergency’ as global warming changes the equation
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a local state of emergency on homelessness. This follows last month’s action by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, when on Dec. 12 she declared a city-wide state of…
Getting rid of Jesus: You don’t have to worry about room in the inn if you raze the inn
Charlotte’s westward expansion — beyond Uptown, Biddleville, Wesley Heights — was in full swing around 1924, when Julia Alexander and her family decided to subdivide and sell off her deceased father’s estate, called Enderly. The old farm would become the…
Two burgers and a shake
David is in the mood to talk. Me, too. I haven’t seen him for a while. We spend at least half an hour bantering about life, God and the devil. “He’s after me,” David tells me, referring to Old Scratch….
When a teenager gets kicked to the curb by Christian parents
Editor’s note: This launches a series of opinion pieces over the coming weeks that will address the problems created by “ex-gay” ministries and those who continue to practice or advocate for the now-discredited forms of conversion therapy. The following column…