Mercy Community Church

Picture drawn in the Mercy Art Class

Every Thursday morning at 8:00am I start my day at Mercy Community Church. Thursday has become a day that I very much look forward to as part of my week. Mercy is based out of  the Druid Hills Presbyterian Church grounds which located in the Poncey Highland area of Atlanta. Mercy started about seven years ago when Pastor Chad Hyatt's vision of a true Christian Community came to life. Now Chad is assisted by Pastor Maggie Leonard a graduate of Columbia Presbyterian Theological Seminary. They make up a very powerful team and I am very blessed to be learning from them both. The community is open to any one who chooses to enter through the always open door. The majority of the community is made up of men and women who are currently homeless. I use the word homeless carefully, I am not putting all the community members into a box of homelessness. I do believe that the term homeless is used in a way that can be a very isolating and demeaning to people in difficult situations. To quote a man I was talking to at Mercy "The word homeless seems like it is tattooed on your forehead and as hard as you try you can't get it off. You get placed into this box with people that you are nothing like. You start paying for things that you have never even thought about doing." I know that personally I have used the word "homeless" to put people in a box before.

Pastor Chad defining Mercy Church

During the week Mercy is open Monday, Thursday and Friday from 8:00am till around lunchtime. Each morning at 8 the doors open and everyone is free to enjoy fresh brewed coffee, bagels, and bread with a choice of butter or homemade strawberry jam! This is a great time for conversations and especially now during the winter a time to warm up from the night before. Around 9 everyone gathers in the main room to start the time of prayer and reflection. We usually start off with songs, most of them actually that Chad wrote. The time of reflection and prayer comes in a different form each day. Some days it's very traditional, with readings and reflection,other times meditation is used or different kinds of music. When the floor is open for the community to voice their prayers out loud it can be very powerful. They pray about the hardships and struggles they endure in their everyday lives. The amount of faith and trust they still keep with God with all they go through is amazing and is truly the power of the spirit. Around 10am is when the bible study begins. Either Chad or Maggie will open reading out of the bible in both English and Spanish. After reading they try to pull together the meaning of what is being said in the passage. Then the floor is open for anyone to talk about the passage, and they are never shy about how they feel. I have been through many bible studies in my time and have never enjoyed them like I do at Mercy. The responses from the people are incredible, not only do they understand what is being said, they usually connect it with a story from their lives. What a blessing it is to hear these people open up and let the world see who they really are. After bible study come the activity for the day. Mercy offers:

• Art classes(the drawing on the top was made in the art class) where people can draw, paint, or craft
• Writing Classes- Jeremy, a PhD writing student at Georgia State works with the community and they publish the Atlanta Outlook each month. The Atlanta Outlook is written 100% by the homeless community and the writers sell the papers for $1 and keep the profit they collect.
• Investigative Reporting- Cat, a full time reporter comes in on Thursday to teach members of the Atlanta Outlook team to how to become a good investigative reporter for articles in the Atlanta Outlook.
• Music Class- This is what I help with on Thursdays. We bring out the guitars and drums and have an old fashion jam session playing different kind of songs. Chad also plays the guitar but does most of the singing aswell!

Playing the Tambourine at Mercy

At 12:30 we pack up sandwiches, fresh hot homemade soup prepared by Chef Jesus, water, and sometimes fruit and head for the streets. We stop at two different locations on Ponce de Leon Ave and pass out the food . This is a special time to connect with people that were not able to make it to Mercy. It is very good to know that all the folks we serve were able to have a healthy and fresh lunch.

Mercy has become a very special place for me here in Atlanta. I look forward to my visit each week. I am excited to see what else I am able to learn from Mercy this year.

The other week DOOR hosted a fundraiser and had a door competition where the guests at the event voted on which door they thought was the best. Pictured below in the door that Mercy painted and it won 1st place!