In all my readings of the four Gospels not once did Jesus walk up to someone and quiz them on how it was that they got in such a pitiful condition. He didn’t say that they should get up and get a job, that they should put the wine down, or that they should go live with family, or that they shouldn’t have dropped out of school, or should have planned better for the future. He had compassion on them and helped them, no questions asked. He didn’t even suggest that they might want to think about coming to church. And that’s what we try to do at Community United Methodist Church, Port Hadlock. We try to help in any way we can, no questions asked. We have an acronym for our mission effort called SODS which stands for Somebody Oughta Do Something, (Be that somebody). We truly believe that when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, tend to the sick and visit the prisoner, when we are doing these things for the least of His brothers and sisters, we are doing it for Him. And that is why we are happy to have some of our unused land designated for temporary shelters that have been built by volunteer community members with the Community Build Project, to be used by those who need to get out of the cold and rain. It’s what Jesus would do.

Community United Methodist Church in Port Hadlock has been blessed with an abundance of land which past leaders had the foresight to purchase. Around 2002 the church approached OlyCAP (Olympic Community Action Program) about leasing some of the church property for affordable housing. An agreement was reached and the South Seven (for the seven acres) Senior Housing apartments were built. Initially, there were to be additional phases which never came to fruition so we at the church were open to other ideas of how best to use it. Unfortunately, with no sewer system in place our options were limited. I casually mentioned in an unrelated conversation with someone that we would really like to see our property better used to address the lack of housing for the homeless in the Tri-Area. Well, it didn’t take too long for this bit of information to get to the right people and I was approached about the prospect of temporary housing on church property. I told them the property was under lease to OlyCAP and to work it out with them and that the Methodist Church would be the least of their problems. And, the rest is history as, through a cooperative effort with many fine people, our dream of additional housing is coming true.

Pastor Scott W. Rosekrans
Community United Methodist Church
Port Hadlock, WA