CCP 03062023 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

ATTACHMENT F February 27, 2023 1146 Rose Place Roseville, MN 55113 Dear Members of the Roseville City Council, As President of the Congregation of Prince of Peace, I’d like to add my perspective to the conversation you will have about how we use our church property. Our Pastor, Rev. Peter Christ, has done an excellent job of representing our congregation in most of the discussions with the City of Roseville to date. It is important to state, however, that Pastor Christ has been acting with the approval of and at the direction of our governing body. Our congregation has always allowed people in need to use our property as a safe place to park, or sometime even pitch a tent overnight. We expect our pastors to serve “the least of these, our brethren”. We first became aware of Cari McCollor’s work with the Roseville Police Department when one of our members stopped to help a homeless woman on the street and began looking for ways to help her. That led to conversations with Ms. McCollor in which we learned about her work, and she learned about our policy of hospitality towards our homeless neighbors. And that led her to call when the city police needed to find a better place for Valerie. While Valerie was living in her bus at Prince of Peace she became part of our community, often attending services, helping keep or property tidy and joining in many events. As you can see from the chronology that Pastor Christ has provided, this was not a project that we planned for long in advance. We knew that Valerie needs a safe place to live over the winter, but we didn’t know how we could help. Then an opportunity was presented to us, and we had to decide within a very short period of time if we would act to help provide a safe place or leave her to winter in her car or some other inadequate form of shelter. I believe we did as God calls to act. As Jesus said when questioned about Jewish law, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” The problem of homelessness is extremely complex, and we will need multiple ways to address it. The community first model, in partnership with communities of faith and employing tiny homes, is one vision with great potential. Prince of Peace had been drawn into this vision, and we have now put you in a position to join us in figuring out how it can work in Roseville. It is a huge challenge, but one well worth pursuing. I look forward to working with you as we explore the way forward. In faith, Michael Stetzler President of the Congregation Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, ELCA, Roseville