LAGUNA WOODS, Calif.—At the Lutheran Church of the Cross, local faith leaders from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Islam, gathered Dec. 21 to pay homage to the hundreds of homeless individuals who died in Orange County in 2022, starting with singing “Amazing Grace.”
“We remember with dignity and respect the names of those who died on the streets while experiencing homelessness,” Pastor Steven Sheldon of the church said from the pulpit overlooking more than 100 attendees and volunteers.
In front of the church, the names of the county’s nearly 500 homeless deaths, including infants, were read while a bell rang for every five names. Every candle placed on rectangular white tables represented one of the individuals.
Orange County’s annual homeless deaths jumped by about 100 from 403 in 2021, according to the Orange County Coroner’s office, with drug overdoses as the most common cause.
“Whether it is through giving prayers, or our time, we have to care for the poor,” said the Rev. Canon Dr. George Okusi from St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Costa Mesa to the audience. “Jesus our Savior is born for us, and may we allow Him to break into our worlds. Wherever the lonely and wherever the outcasts may be, welcome them.”
The service is the 7th of its kind held in Orange County and hosted by the Diocese of Orange on the winter solstice—the first day of winter and the longest night of the year—in remembrance of homeless individuals who died.
“The Diocese of Orange was approached some years ago to organize a localized interfaith version of the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day,” Bradley Zint, assistant director of communications at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, told The Epoch Times.
Fr. Ed Becker, the diocese’s episcopal vicar for ecumenical and inter-religious affairs, told The Epoch Times a “concern for the poor and vulnerable is something that unites nearly all faith communities.”
“This is a near-universal ritual, even though we have different beliefs about what happens after we die and what the afterlife may be,” Becker added.
He said many people outside of Orange County consider it very affluent.
“But in truth, we also struggle with the difficulties of accommodating the unhoused and poorest among us,” he said.
The memorial service, he said, and other charitable activities help shed light on the issue of homeless deaths in the county and the rest of the country for more awareness and positive changes to come.
