HOPEWELL, Va. — According to the Bible, Jesus encouraged his followers to feed the hungry. City leaders in Hopewell agree with that message, they just want churches in the city to do it somewhere else.
Beacon Hill Church Senior Pastor Michael Moore received a letter from the city to “cease all activities on city property” near the Beacon [Theatre] parking lot.
Moore’s non-denominational church has used the theatre as its meeting place for nearly a decade. Almost from day one, the church has used the parking lot to hand out food to help those in need.
“This parking lot serves about 250 people on an average Friday,” Moore said. “What we are seeing is a rarity. Community coming together, different churches and organizations, to work together to make a community stronger. That’s what we should be doing.”
But there is a problem in the eyes of some city leaders. It’s not the who, or the what, or the when. It’s the where.
“We don’t have a problem at all with feeding the homeless or those that have food insecurities,” Hopewell City Councilmember Rita Joyner said. “We are just asking that they move a couple of blocks over.”