Not from my experience and I write this as a follower of Christ. For a long while I held a deep resentment for the places that refused to help me but I also had some beautiful experiences which helped me to solidify and grow in my faith.

My best experience was at a Catholic Church in California. I’m not Catholic but I honestly have a deep love for all variety of denominations and their traditions and practice. I can see deep issues with almost all of them, myself included, which has helped me to grow to the point of moving past a lot lack and I feel as though I mostly have gain. Gain of compassion, gain of understanding, gain of patience, gain of boldness...

At the church I had my first real deep religious experience, I slept outside under a bench near the front doors. I stayed for about a week and I saw a lot of good this particular church did for the community and the good the community did unto me. It was primarily a very high elderly church and they basically fed and housed a lot of really poor old people which eased my resent of not allowing me to “sleep inside” the church to having a humble dirty spot outside. I rejoice in that quiet bench outside in the courtyard.

It wasn’t long before I met somebody else who advised me to sleep near one of the doors out of view from the street for safety sake. They warned me that one of the deacons/pastors had a “heart issue” but the other one was solid in what seemed like a very veiled and prophetic manner.

Immediately the next morning I overslept and was awoken by a church leader who was going about their routine and opening the church doors and preparing for mass or service. The elderly church figure just gently walked past me as I hurried to grab my stuff and be on my way ashamedly. I wanted to make it a point not to be seen during my stay because I didn’t want anybody at this church to know my situation to influence their treatment towards me but it was too late, my cover was blown. I left and found somewhere else to stash my meager belongings before I returned and continued my prayer in the sanctuary.

The thing I loved most about this Catholic Church was that it was opened the same time everyday and closed the same time. Six or seven o’clock on the dot. And the building was usually always empty minus a few other people who came to quietly pray or light a candle to one of the altars. I spent a good solid week just praying and cleaning up the place, going for a walk and returning to clean and pray. This church was pretty old and had the most beautiful architecture. God spoke to me when I was alone in the wooden creaks of the chapel ceiling when nobody else was around. Funny enough when I was joined by the cardinals or other civilians the roof never creaked or shifted but when I was alone it seemed to respond to my petitions to God...

I helped out one day with the food drive and everybody was working hard and feeding more old people than I had realized lived in that neighborhood. I was basically adopted by a group of old Spanish Catholic women who brought me food and money with the eldest inviting me to breakfast with them one day that prompted me to weep the most I had ever wept in my life. One lady even went as far as inviting me to sleep on the floor in her garage and help me in whatever way she could. I will never forget the kindness those women showed me.

I believe my last day or so there was an encounter with the cardinal I was warned about from a stranger. I overslept again one morning but instead of Father Jose, who gently went about his duties when my cover was first blown, I was caught by the other cardinal. He immediately yelled and threatened to call the police on me. I don’t recall feeling welcomed after that and with no way to avoid that church official I decided to continue my journey and leave.

So all this might raise more questions than it answers but I don’t believe a church will just take anybody in. Scripture places a strong importance on the help of widows and orphaned children, beyond that most it’s attention and resource is probably going to be very thin and little. I completely respected and saw firsthand the service a church has within a community and it was a lot more than I have seen from the government. The help from a church came easily and without question. Any help I ever received from a governmental entity required me to jump through hoop after hoop. I would be standing right in front of a representative who would claim I am ineligible for services due to not having a piece of plastic that says I exist. That never happened with a church.

Unless you are a orphan or widow I wouldn’t hold your breathe on getting much. The Christian creed, if executed properly, isn’t what others may do for me but what you may do for others. I have no doubt the common sentiment is that church is a waste of space, which in some regard I may agree, however the church is something that isn’t confined to some fancy building or gathering place. The church is a living and breathing entity that holds many forms and whose members come from all walks of life. If you go about thinking the only way a “church will take you in” is by showing up to a building expecting a hand out there will likely be disappointment.