This is a very exciting episode for me, I talk with Peter Hough, pastor at the Alton Mission in Alton, IL. I found Peter through searching for winter survival practices for people experiencing homelessness and found about the OWL program he helped launch (Overnight Warming Location). But in the first half of the episode he talks about what having a congregation of people in poverty and experiencing homelessness looks like, and also what building community WITH those members looks like. Peter speaks about the difference between the transactional nature of targeting people for a mission or to be fed and instead eating with his congregation. From that simple starting point, he has been able to build community around the Alton Mission. Peter also talks about the difficulties with starting OWLs, and how invoking the religious liberty and tradition of helping the poor helped him convince other pastors to open their doors to people experiencing homelessness on freezing nights. Even then he still struggled with police and the city trying to stop them. The whole conversation is a very inspirational look at what building community in such crucial ways can look like.

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