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Outdoor ministry strives to serve the homeless

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 21, 2012|By Rosemary Chandler

(Page 3 of 3)

She says she worked for years as a registered nurse and lived with her parents in Brookline. After her parents died, however, the house was sold, she lost her job, and eventually found herself on the streets.

Debbie now floats from one shelter to the next with her friend Wynn Rose, the woman playing the tambourine. Rose comes to Common Cathedral, she explains, “because you’re with your people here.’’

“At another church, everyone is going home [after the service],’’ says Rose. At the end of Common Cathedral, she and Debbie will rush back to the shelter to wait in line, hoping for a bed for the night.

Not everyone, however, feels comfortable attending service at Common Cathedral. “There’s a lot of finger-pointing, and people thinking: Look at the homeless people praying to God,’’ says Jayne, a homeless woman who attends the regular service at St. Paul’s. And it’s true. While most people walk by without noticing, others slow their pace and crane their necks to stare at the ragtag group singing around the fountain.

But no one sings any less loudly. Frankie launches into “Amazing Grace,’’ wheezing through the first few lines alone. Slowly, the others join him. Right before launching into the third stanza, he pauses and a yellow-toothed grin appears. “I know all the words!’’ he exclaims happily. Everyone laughs. They continue to sing, and the people walking by continue to stare at the little old man standing inside a circle, singing a song in the middle of the afternoon on Boston Common.