Homelessness Sunday

This week St Martin’s marks Homelessness Sunday, aptly coinciding with the Third Sunday of Epiphany which takes as its theme the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

For the ‘church of the ever-open door’, which has long been associated with outreach to those on the edges of society in the heart of London, Homelessness Sunday has a particularly strong resonance. Matthew 25: 35-40 emphasises Jesus’ core teaching that we should feed, clothe and welcome the ‘least of my brethren’, and the need to do so has never been more acute than today.

Housing Justice, which was formed from the organisations which worked together to initiate Homelessness Sunday in 1993, estimates that there are 3,898 people sleeping on the streets per night in England, a 120% increase since 2010, and 324,990 households were assessed as homeless according to the latest figures from 2024.

However, anyone who lives or works in London doesn’t need statistics to see the scale of the problem. At St Martin’s we are fortunate to be part of a community which through its own outreach and advocacy work including the International Group and the Vicar’s Relief Fund, and the invaluable services provided by The Connection, does so much to seek to help those experiencing homelessness, as well as to influence national policy in a way which will tackle the systemic problems that cause people to become homeless and prevent them from receiving the necessary support.

Homelessness Sunday provides an opportunity to reflect on what else we can do to support this work, not only financially, but also through the giving of time and heeding the call in Proverbs 31: 8-9 to: ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves’ and ‘defend the rights of the poor and needy’.

Matthew Morrison