People all over the world regularly experience the lack of what is universally considered one of the. basic human needs: shelter or, simply, a home. This epidemic has been, by many, accepted as part of life. Many Christians in the Church care—even deeply care—but are so overwhelmed by the lack of clear solutions that we’re more likely to throw up our hands in exasperation than roll up our sleeves to help. For all the economic and social issues that homelessness raises, it also raises theological issues. A deeper understanding of the basic Scriptural and theological foundations of this problem should help our solutions. This is not to suggest that knowledge alone is sufficient—the gospel requires action. The simplest form of shalom-making is to meet basic human needs. This brief reflection is meant to offer a closer look at the Scriptural and theological foundations for ministering to those experiencing homelessness.
Theologian | Derek King (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews)

Practitioner | Maralee Gutierrez (Founder and Executive Director, Comunidad, Washington, D. C.)

Practitioner | Laura Carr (Executive Director, Lexington Rescue Mission, Lexington, KY)

Practitioner | Adam Rocap (Deputy Director, Miriam’s Kitchen, Washington, D. C.)

Practitioner | Rev. Neil van Heerden (Living Edge Community, Victoria, Canada)

Minister | Fr. Matt Dampier (Rector, Christ Church, Austin, TX)

Ministries today are increasingly traumatized and traumatizing. Sexual abuse and trauma in non-profits and the church leave many Christians feeling scared, confused, unprepared, and overwhelmed about what to do next or how to help.

This white paper considers how Anglicans today — or any mere Christian for that matter — can immediately get started with some basic principles and practices to create trauma-safe ministries and organizations. Our ministries can become trauma-safe because of the person of Jesus Christ and his gospel, and our theology of the church is simply too good not to be trauma-safe.
Theologian | Preston Hill (Ph.D., M.Litt., University of St. Andrews; Assistant Professor of Integrative Theology, Richmont Graduate University; Pastoral Therapist, Ordinand, ACNA)

Practitioner | Rebecca Henderson (LICSW, Vocational Deacon in ADOTS,

Rape Response Coordinator, Crisis Center, Inc. Birmingham, AL)

Practitioner | Angel Bailey (Evangelist, Church Army USA)

Minister | Fr. Thomas Ryden (Assistant Rector, Apostles Anglican Church, Knoxville)

The Matthew 25 Initiative (M25) seeks to continue the mission of Jesus. The aim of M25 is “to equip, gather, connect, and offer refreshment for Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) practitioners working in ministries that serve the vulnerable, marginalized, and under-resourced.”1 M25 holds a unique tension between two potential pitfalls. On one hand, it avoids an overemphasis on the earthly, or the rud- derless ship of the “Social Gospel,” which devolves into a humanitarian “doing good.” On the other hand, it avoids an over-emphasis on the other-worldly,or the pursuit of “saving souls” without any genuine care for those souls or especially, the bodies of those souls.
Theologian | Derek King (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews)

We engage in God’s work of shalom which involves our bodies and other peoples’ bodies, and continually engages us in Jesus’s body. In the incarnation, God did not just come for our souls but for our bodies. Just as “in the beginning” God made the heavens and the earth as a unified whole, so all of creation is leaning — tending — groaning toward this goal when the heavens and earth will once more be at home with one another. For Anglicans, we remind ourselves of this every week in the Eucharist. As C. S. Lewis says, “There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature. That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it.”
Theologian | Julie Canlis (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews; Professor, Whitworth University)
Practitioner | Mark Purcell (Former Executive Director, A Rocha USA, Austin, TX)
Practitioner | Clara Duffy (Shelter Connector, Abara, El Paso, TX)
Practitioner | Eva-Elizabeth Chisolm (Human Services Leader, L’Arche Washington, D.C.)
Practitioner | Madison Miller (Assisting Director, New Garden Farm, Greensboro, N.C.)

The commandments in scripture regarding God’s concern for the treatment of the sojourner abound. Second only to the love of God alone, welcoming the stranger is among the most frequent commands in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In this white paper, we examine the theme of migration within the biblical narrative. Then, we devote our attention to the early Christian tradition and how the Church has thought about immigration. Finally, and building on this case, we apply this to the context of the United States–Mexico border and the responsibility of Christians today.

Download this white paper, in which we introduce the theology of immigration for evangelical Anglican churches in North America.
Theologian | Rev. William A. Walker III, Ph.D. (Director of Vocation, Christ Church, Austin, TX)

Theologian | Daniel Carroll Rodas, Ph.D (Professor of Biblican and Pedagogy, Wheaton College
Graduate School, IL)

Practitioner | Sami DiPasquale (Founder and Executive Director, Abara, El Paso, TX)

Practitioner | Natalie Foote (CEO, Restoration Immigration, Arlington, VA)

Practitioner | Jason Braun (Legal Director, RILA, Arlington, VA)

Strife. Conflict. Offense. Resentment. Revenge. Violence. War. Justice that has no mercy and perpetrates more injustice. That is the norm in our wounded and very broken world. God created this same world and filled it with beauty and grandeur, and with human beings made in His image. And it was good. In the original design, all of creation was meant to live harmoniously in right relationship with God and in an interconnected web of relationships, characterized by flourishing, mutuality, justice and peace.

The ancient Hebrew word that describes this way in which the world was intended to be is shalom. If we are to take seriously God’s desire and plan, then we have to set our hearts and minds on the shalom of God. Jesus invites us to embody this counter-cultural way of living, to join him in his kingdom work of healing and repair, and to be his ambassadors of reconciliation. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” reads Matthew 5:9.
Practitioner | Todd Deatherage, Co-founder and Executive Director, The Telos Group

Practitioner | David Katibah, Director of Communications and Christian Engagement, The Telos Group

White Papers