The Ministry team for the Homeless was founded in 1994 specifically to reach out to the Homeless community of Boise. A chronological history of the teams efforts and milestones is detailed in the history page. Initial investigation revealed that the various social service organizations in Boise provide very good to excellent services for people who are homeless. A list of common myths about poor and homeless people has been compiled here.

In October of 1995 the Homeless Ministry followed the FUMC by sponsoring a monthly "Friendship Dinner for the Homeless." The Homeless people in our community are fed regularly by El-Ada soup kitchen, Rescue Mission and Salvation Army.

Our Friendship dinner occurs on the 1st Thursday of the month. If the month has five weeks then our second Friendship dinner may occur on the 4th Thursday.

Over time, our view of the purpose of the Friendship dinner has matured into its current configuration. Initially we felt the need to simply feed to the Homeless community. After a couple of years this developed more into a ministry and we realized that it was of considerable spiritual benefit to the participating members of our congregation as well as to the guests. Message: We accept you.

From the beginning of the Friendship dinner we sought to create a Christian event where we could demonstrate that our God is an abundant God that loves all people. Our goal has always been to serve all food that is donated. We allow guests to take all they want from the buffet tables. We encourage guests to have seconds. Food left over was donated to the Rescue Mission. Now we encourage our guests to take left over food with them. As much as they can use without limit. Message: Our God is an abundant God.

The Friendship dinner is a Christian event and we preach to the guests in a very subtle way. Center pieces with the subject "How do I See God" are placed on the dinner tables. (These were created by members of a 3rd or 4th grade Sunday school class.) During the Blessing we ask the Lord to Bless the food to our bodies and the evening to an opportunity for developing community and friendships. We have learned that the Friendship dinner is an opportunity for our guests to get out of their normal routine. Similar to what we would experience with our families in "going out to dinner." We seek to create an atmosphere of community, acceptance, friendship and love for one another. Message: God loves you.

Friendship dinner helpers have always been encouraged to eat dinner. And, optionally, to eat in the dining room with the guests. (This can be hard for some people so we don't force it.) We feel that sharing a meal is extremely important in that it demonstrates acceptance and community. Message: We accept you.

All people are welcome to the Friendship Dinner. We specifically advertise the dinner at homeless shelters but not all people that attend are homeless. The majority of guests are homeless or have been homeless at one time or another. About 20% of the attendees are repeat customers. Repeat customers afford us the opportunity to learn names, develop friendships and encourage them to attend Sunday worship. We rejoice when we hear stories of homeless people, people that we know, who have found jobs and apartments. Thanks be to God for their success.
Message: You are important.

Currently there are four churches serving Friendship dinners. That translates into 48 dinners per year. Since there are 52 weeks in the year we recognize that there are 13 weeks per quarter and that translates into one week per quarter without a Friendship dinner. Thanksgiving dinners are plentiful in our community so the extra week in the fourth quarter is not a problem. The goal of your Ministry team for the Homeless is to provide dinners on these three extra weeks. With your continued support and the Lord's blessing we will be able to continue doing this.

We are thankful for the support of our congregation. They continue to donate time, food and money to this worth while cause. These dinners would not be possible without this support.

In 2005 Congregation Beth Israel made arrangements to hold their Friendship Dinner at First Presbyterian Church in order to locate the dinner closer to the downtown area. This dinner occurs on the last Thursday of the month. Thanks be to God for their continued interest and efforts.

1997-2003 attendance statistics are located on the history page