From JK Melton, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministries: The holiest place I have been recently was Collyer Park in Longmont. On Friday evenings at 6 p.m., a group of homeless people gather there for worship and dinner. Deacon Marc Genty leads the service, and the parishioners do the preaching. The liturgy is simple and brief, but the connection between all of the people gathered there as equals is beautiful to behold.

I now have a new vision of what the Kingdom of Heaven looks like. It looks like that group gathered under the picnic shelter in the park. There was a woman who volunteers at the shelter, a woman missing several teeth, a priest, a man who smelled strongly, some deacons, quite a few smokers, some social workers, a man who was grateful for the cart that held everything he owned, and a few suburban people stepping outside their comfort zone. There was also a goofy youth director who was wishing quietly that he had not worn shorts (yours truly), and there were some people who were grieving the recent loss of a friend who had died on the street earlier that week. When we exchanged the peace, everyone exchanged hugs. There was no doubt in my mind that we were in the presence of Jesus.

Some members of our youth group got to know Deacon Marc in August at a youth event called 24 Hours Without a Roof, which is designed to help young people understand homelessness. Marc came and talked about his work, and we all participated in the liturgy he leads on Friday nights. Our youth came away from that event with a much deeper understanding of homelessness and the profound difficulties we face in solving this problem.

At 24 Hours Without a Roof, we met a homeless man who taught us an important lesson: “Socks are gold!” Over the next few weeks, our youth group will be collecting socks to take to Common Cathedral. We will meet up with other Episcopal youth groups from around the county, make sandwiches, and go worship in the park, and share our socks with the homeless. I am eager to return to Longmont and to experience this service again. I’m also excited to return with an offering that will mean very much to my friends at Common Cathedral.