When Mission Statements Meet Reality
An Open Letter to the…read moreMembers and Donors of Saint Paul Church of Sacramento
Dear members, ministry leaders, volunteers, and faithful donors,
If you support Saint Paul Church, you likely do so because you believe in its mission. The church publicly speaks of Thinking Beyond Ourselves, Equipping Families, Growing in God's Word, acts of service, community programs, generous giving, and deliberately finding ways to demonstrate God's goodness.
Those are the church's words--not mine.
Unfortunately, my family's experience did not reflect those values.
My partner, Jan, had recently survived sepsis, West Nile virus, and meningitis. We are currently living in an RV while rebuilding our lives after losing our home in what I believe was a wrongful foreclosure. During Sacramento's extreme summer heat, we completely ran out of water. Jan was still medically recovering, and our two dogs were becoming dehydrated.
We did not ask Saint Paul Church for money, food, housing, or financial assistance.
We asked only if we could fill one 50-gallon barrel with water.
The request was denied because we were told it would increase the church's water bill.
As a commercial refrigeration and HVAC technician with more than two decades of experience, I understand utility costs. Sacramento bills water by the CCF, with one CCF equal to approximately 748 gallons. At current commercial rates, that amount of water costs roughly $1.50 to $1.75.
A 50-gallon barrel is only a small fraction of one CCF. The water we requested represented only pennies in cost.
The issue was never the expense.
The issue was whether a church that publicly promotes compassion would extend that compassion to neighbors experiencing a genuine hardship.
I never intended to receive something without giving something in return.
I offered to perform a complete preventative maintenance service on the church's commercial HVAC and refrigeration equipment at no charge. Commercial services of this type commonly include rooftop unit inspections, condenser cleaning, air handler maintenance, filter replacement, belt inspections, electrical checks, operational testing, and refrigeration system inspections. Depending on facility size, that work typically has a market value of approximately $870 to over $1,600.
While I was there, I also repaired and remounted a broken plastic hose hanger on the church property as a simple act of goodwill.
Despite offering professional labor worth far more than the value of the water requested, our offer was declined, and we were later told we could no longer obtain water there.
This letter is not intended to attack the congregation. Many members may have no idea this occurred. It is written because donors deserve to know whether the values promoted publicly are reflected in the decisions made privately.
As someone who spent 43 consecutive years as a California homeowner before losing my home, asking anyone for help was one of the hardest things I have ever done. We were grateful the first time we were allowed to fill our barrel, and we never intended to become a burden. In fact, after that visit, I told my partner we would do everything possible not to ask again. Unfortunately, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees inside our RV and no other immediate option, we returned.
I encourage every member of Saint Paul Church to read the church's mission statements and then ask whether denying water to a recovering woman, her family, and two dehydrated dogs during extreme heat reflects those stated values.
Every church can make mistakes. My hope is simply that this experience encourages reflection and that no one else who comes to Saint Paul Church during a moment of genuine need leaves feeling the way our family did.
Respectfully,
Bryan Baldwin
bryanwbaldwin@yahoo.com
