ightwatch

OPERATION

a hungry person can get something to eat, someone forced to sleep outside can get a jacket or a blanket, or a person with a more complicated problem can gain a professional referral. And there are more and more people coming to us clearly expecting us to meet those needs. That they are dependent on us to respond to these more elemental needs is evident in that, once we engage in our nightly sandwich and clothing distributions, many are satisfied enough to leave. Blankets and socks are always in particularly high demand—and while the in-kind donations of these items that come to us from individuals and churches remain critical to us, we’ve had to supplement them by establishing a Blankets/Socks Fund. Through the monies collected for this fund, we have been able to go directly to blanket and socks factories where we can get discounts for volume deals.

When most people think of Operation Nightwatch, they think of our Hospitality Center, open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. But Nightwatch also offers other activities, spread throughout the week. In 2007, they tentatively expanded as to cover fully six-evenings-a-week. In this past year, those activities proved to serve a continuing need, and they have all become a solid part of our schedule.

On Sunday evenings, we host a worship service, led by Pastor Roger Fuchs. Attendance at worship is completely non-obligatory, but the service has drawn a group of loyalists who like the option it offers, because they would feel self-conscious and out-of-place in a traditional church service.

Most Wednesday evenings are the occasion for Bible Study. Steve Kimes of the Anawim Community was its leader since its inception a couple of years ago; however, Steve resigned from the position in June. We resumed the Bible Study in September, using a rotating leadership model. I myself launched the renewed Bible Study, but leadership has since been alternated with two other pastors, the Rev. Donald Sevetson, former Conference Minister of the Central Pacific Conference of the United Church of Christ, and the Rev. Bunny Oliver of the Beavercreek United Church of Christ.