Chapel in a Homeless Shelter

It’s mandatory for those who stay there. A look at what happens there and one homeless person’s reaction

Photo by cottonbro studio — Pexels

I’ve been homeless in a major Southern U.S. city for about half a year. A few months ago I posted an article on what it’s like living in a homeless shelter. Some readers wanted to know more about the mandatory evening chapel services in particular, so I decided to write this followup.

We attend chapel every evening at 6, following dinner at 5. The chapel is a short walk down the hall from the dining room.

The chapel is in a brand-new building known as “Phase 2” of the shelter’s redevelopment. One of the pastors told us the entire redevelopment project cost about $40 million, all privately-raised funds, not one government dollar taken.

As a result, the new chapel is state-of-the-art.

• It has 11 rows of movie theater-style seating, accommodating about 300
• It’s fully air conditioned
• It has a modern sound system which visiting choirs have described as the best they’ve ever worked with
• It has an Internet-connected computer connected to 2 huge video screens
• There’s a baptismal pool with water warmed to 98 degrees