Faith Leaders Reject City Anti-Panhandling Campaign : IMC Worcester

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Faith,

As religious community leaders we are inspired by our scriptures and by those aspects of our religious traditions that speak to the holiness of responding directly to the needs of the poor in our community. Many different faiths see such acts as absolutely central to a meaningful, ethical, and truly religious life. It is with that in mind that we are writing to you today as colleagues in ministry.

Recently the City of Worcester has begun an aggressive campaign that targets panhandling and discourages the public from responding to the pleas of those who stand passively on corners with cardboard signs asking for assistance. We cannot, of course, know what is in someone's heart. And reasonable people of good will may undoubtedly have different views about both the desirability and necessity of panhandling. Still, sadly, it is our view that the City administration seems more concerned about reducing the visibility of the unkempt manifestations of poverty in the community than in reducing poverty and addressing its causes.

As religious community leaders we are called upon to "comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable." It is with that definition of ministry in mind that we are choosing in this context to teach and preach about the nature of our religious obligation to respond to needs of the poor. If you have not already done so we want to encourage you to think about doing this too.

It is, of course, praiseworthy to be giving money to legitimate charities that seek to minister to the poor. But it is self-delusion to believe that every person in need in our community can have his or her needs met to satisfaction even by the excellent array of service agencies that serve our community. Further, for some of our faiths the act of responding directly to the beggar is transformative for the one who gives. Should we ever discourage such behavior?

Finally, the irony is not lost on us that, even as the City urges financial support for human service agencies, some local leaders have undertaken a program that has stigmatized non-profit agencies as a major cause of rising property taxes. And recent experience has proven all too sensitive to not-in-my-back-yard tirades of the well organized and the well connected.

Worcester has a proud history of responding with grace to the needs of those who have found themselves in difficulty. We must celebrate and build on this tradition of generosity of spirit, not turn to a new page of government sanctioned heartlessness. Please join with us in reminding our people, as people of faith, not to turn their backs or to close their wallets to those whose dignity withers as we ignore them and wish them invisible. Feel free to contact us if we can be of any assistance to you or if you would like to join with us in an ongoing interfaith response to this and related issues impacting our community.

Reverend Gary Richards,
Aldersgate United Methodist Church

Monsignor Francis Scollen,
Saint Peters Roman Catholic Church

Rabbi Jordan Millstein,
Temple Emanuel

Reverend José Encarnacion,
Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad

Reverend Sarai Rivera,
Iglesia Cristiana de la Comunidad

Reverend Walter Tilleman,
Pleasant Street Baptist Church