I am the established (8-years) rector of an urban parish with some ministry to the homeless. I am on the board of directors of the Riverside Ending Homelessness Fund, which for the past three years has organized the Walk To End Homelessness to increase awareness, funding, and political will around this issue.

Under the aegis of promoting the 2016 Walk to End Homelessness I plan to spend one day per week (Feb-April) meeting with pastors to promote their participation in the walk. During the course of the meeting I plan to introduce this research project and secure their cooperation and support. With their permission I will conduct a case study of their ministry context in relationship to three Christian practices: 1)Hospitality, 2)Shaping Communities and 3)Discernment. (see: www.practicingourfaith.org) Immediately following each encounter I will write up a verbatim.

Following the walk I will check back with participating pastors and then from June until July I will retreat to our family lake cottage in Michigan and write up the findings. After a month's vacation (August) I will return to Riverside and spend one-half day per week completing the manuscript for publication. The end product will be a book that reflects the 2016 experience in light of a 2003 experience wherein a congregation I pastored allowed a "tent city" to form on the property in order to force the city government to provide shelter for the homeless. My hope is that this Pastoral Study Project will reveal a method and result in a trade book that is both encouraging, inspirational, and provides a new model for effective ministry.