The Oct. 1–4 program in Winston-Salem pairs worship and shared meals with an exercise exploring barriers to housing, identification and assistance.
By Derwin L. Montgomery
WS Chronicle
A four-day pilgrimage at The Dwelling in Winston-Salem asks visitors to begin with something more personal than a service project: getting to know their neighbors.
The program, slated for Oct. 1–4 at 502 N. Broad St., centers listening, learning and sharing meals with a faith community that welcomes people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. A registration page published by Christ the Servant Lutheran Church describes relationship-building as the purpose of the visit.
Its planned activities include “Pilgrimage through the Margins,” an immersive exercise focused on navigating housing, obtaining vital documents and finding community resources. Participants are also scheduled to prepare breakfast and lunch for the Sunday gathering, watch a documentary and close the weekend with worship.
The invitation reflects how The Dwelling describes its congregation: a church in which housing status does not determine belonging or a person’s ability to lead.
A congregation rooted in shelter ministry
The Dwelling is a joint mission community of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Moravian Church in America. Its statement of belief welcomes people across housing status, income, race, gender, sexual orientation and addiction history, and invites anyone who wishes to receive Communion to do so.
Its beginnings are tied to Augsburg Lutheran Church’s winter-overflow shelter in Winston-Salem. The ELCA’s Mission Investment Fund traces The Dwelling’s development to conversations and meals with shelter guests, and to the desire for a congregation in which people experiencing homelessness could be leaders.
Augsburg later began its campus renewal with the community center that houses The Dwelling. The fund, which helped finance the work through a loan, reports that the renovation tripled the space available to the ministry and expanded room for nonprofit use.
“The Dwelling is a community of belonging,” the Rev. Emily Harkins, identified in that account as lead pastor and founding developer, told the Mission Investment Fund.
Around the same table
The congregation’s regular Sunday schedule begins with fellowship and a light breakfast around 10 a.m., followed by worship around 11 a.m. and a community meal afterward. The Dwelling describes music, prayer, poetry and the voices of those gathered as parts of its worship.
Practical assistance is also part of the ministry. The congregation operates a mobile shower program and provides towels and supplies. Its shower webpage connects that work to dignity and the church’s understanding of baptism.
The pilgrimage brings visiting participants into those patterns of worship and shared meals. The itinerary describes opportunities to learn about obstacles neighbors face; it does not report attendance or results from the October visit.
For people interested in the congregation beyond the pilgrimage, The Dwelling’s website lists its regular Sunday gathering at the Broad Street and opportunities to help provide breakfast or lunch.