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Pastor denies she, church urge homeless to sleep there

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Pastor Eliza Tweedy (First Congregational Church photo)

ROCHESTER - Returning from a vacation in Europe and speaking out for the first time regarding a recent petition that accused her church of encouraging the homeless and drug addicts to sleep there and asked that the SOS Recovery Center be moved, the church's pastor told The Rochester Voice on Monday she wished the people who had written and signed the petition had come and visited her first.

The petition was drawn up by two Congress Street residents and signed by more than 60 neighborhood residents and downtown businesses. It accused church officials of encouraging drug users from outside Rochester to come and live at the church.

"I think a lot of the petition stuff was driven by a lack of communication," FCC Pastor Eliza Tweedy said. "A lot of people don't ask questions that are in their hearts. We would welcome people to come in and have a cup of tea and see what the church does."

Tweedy said for the record, the church does not invite people to stay at the church or on church grounds, does not pass out Narcan, an opioid overdose antidote, does not pass out clean needles and does not represent the church as a sanctuary from law enforcement.

What they do, however, do is offer food to the hungry through their food pantry and allow anyone who asks to use the bathroom during normal business hours to do so.

Far from being a new phenomenon, Tweedy said homeless folk have been sleeping on a vacant lot behind the library that belongs to the church "for a lot longer than the six years I've been here.

"And it breaks my heart," she continued. "No one would sleep on our property if they had somewhere better to go."

Tweedy said from her perspective, the number of homeless people sleeping there has gone down this year, however, she does occasionally see evidence of overnight stays.

"I'll come in in the morning and see bushes trampled or a sleeping back, but most of the time if someone has slept here, most of the traces are gone by morning," she added.

She said allowing SOS Recovery Center to rent space in the church was not a spur of the moment decision.

"We endeavor to look at the needs of our community and do what needs to be done to make God manifest in this world," she said.

She asks neighborhood residents who have young children and fear for their safety to remember this.

"As a single mother I would say look into the eyes of those who are suffering with substance abuse disorders and see children of parents who have all the same worries that I do. And try to treat those using drugs as I hope some stranger would treat my child if anything like that were to happen to them."

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