At this time of year hundreds of drifters move into Victoria and reside in tents, which they set up in local parks thanks to a city bylaw which allows them to do so. They can only stay from 8 PM to 7 AM. But on this occasion something unforeseen happened, and a group of well-informed homeless people, with legal counsel discovered that there were no restrictions covering camping on provincially owned property. At first only a few tents appeared on the small park lawn behind the provincial courthouse, and across the street from the local Anglican cathedral. But within a short space of time over a hundred people had claimed squatter's rights and established their Intent City Zen. The situation then festered as a sore on the city for over seven months with no end in sight. The province did go to court in April to have the residents of tent city removed, but the court ruled that without proper housing to move them into, the tent city could remain in place.

The cathedral weighed in early on this sad saga. One of its clergy, the Rev. Nancy Ford wrote an article in the daily press in support of the tent city. Jesus, she asserted, would feel right at home with the tent city people. She went further by suggesting that she could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in their midst. Her sugar-coated perception of its residents and their assorted generic varieties of collective spirituality was very soul stirring, but unsustainable theologically or morally. Jesus feels compassion for the downtrodden, but he also reaches down to restore them to God. He doesn't just leave them as he finds them wallowing in their transgressions and filth. He lifts them up to new life. As for the presence of the Holy Spirit at Intent City Zen, unless he's taken up theft and dope smoking as a pastime, I doubt the credibility of her overly enthusiastic assertion, no matter how well-meaning her intentions are.

In the meantime the cathedral went into full jumping gear.

There were interminable sermons preached about tent city. Even the cathedral's new dean, Ansley Tucker, joined in the chorus, rallying the laity to enlist in the great crusade to help to save Intent City Zen. Cathedral folks brought food, water, clothing, and even organized a candle light vigil to demonstrate their support. Finally, the cathedral community found a cause to draw attention to itself, its ultimate raision d'etre.

Meanwhile the surrounding community became the victim of tent city's lawless behaviours. While the cathedral raised the banners for tent city's salvation, residents of the once quiet and socially well-ordered Fairfield neighbourhood found themselves under virtual siege. All their appeals to all levels of government were of little avail. Some of the neighbourhood folks packed up and left because they could no longer endure the growing tension created by the situation. Even an increased police presence around tent city did little to stop the outrageous activities generated from some of its inhabitants.

And what was the cathedral's response? Not one word of sympathetic support for the harassed and frustrated neighbourhood; instead there was another newspaper article from Reverend Ford in which she put everyone in their place by reminding them of the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Her meaning was clear. If the cathedral people were the Good Samaritan, then everyone else, like the embattled people of the Fairfield neighbourhood, and all the other residents of Victoria who are fed-up-to-the-teeth with the lawlessness of the tent city people, must represent the "Bad Samaritan." It was at this point that the cathedral clergy realized that they had put their foot into something decidedly messy.

At this point the provincial government, along with several local helping agencies, stepped forward with millions of dollars to help the tent city people find proper accommodation.

Many of the more sincere homeless people accepted the offer and were immediately given help with temporary housing, counselling for their addictions, and even assistance in finding employment.

To be fair to the folks at Christ Church Cathedral, they too have been advocating for proper help and housing for the homeless in tent city. But they stepped over the line in their support for tent city, and found out, much to their chagrin, that the majority of tent city dwellers had no interest in being helped by anybody. The organizers of Intent City Zen had their own agenda, and resisted all help. Their interests were focused elsewhere, and became self-evident as time went on.

Since the original organizers of Intent City Zen had left to cause chaos someplace else, and since the folks who really desired help have accepted it, a new and more violent element has filled the vacuum, swelling the occupancy of the tent city. There has been a steady crescendo of illegal activity stemming from tent city. Some of this illegal activity has had an impact on the cathedral's precincts, including the day school run by the cathedral. This combined with the unsanitary conditions, and the fire hazards caused by so many tents and structures packed into so small a space, has prompted the provincial government to go back to court to once more attempt to have the residents evicted.

Cathedral Clergy Embarrassed

In what had become an embarrassing time for the cathedral clergy, they bowed to the pressure coming at them from all sides, and requested that Intent City Zen be dismantled.

Dean Tucker, who had been so vocal in her support of Intent City Zen, received front page coverage in the press, where she expressed her concerns about the negative effect of the squatters on the community.

As a result, it was inevitable that some of the letters to the editor published in the local press, denounced the heartlessness of the dean and the cathedral in seeking the removal of the squatter's encampment.

On the other side of the issue, locals in the Fairfield neighbourhood, who have suffered from little support from the authorities over their protests against the tent city, also reviled the position of the cathedral, its staff, and people.

Even more hurtful to the cathedral were the protests from some of its own parishioners, who, while opposed to the actions of the cathedral, remained a silent voice in the wider public domain.

Any open protest against Intent City Zen would have been viewed by the cathedral's clergy as un-Christian and politically incorrect. The cathedral had placed itself in a "no win" situation. The cathedral might have profited from Jesus' advice on keeping one's good works "hush hush," and from the example of other Christian agencies in the Victoria area, who, without fanfare or press coverage, simply and quietly helped in every way they could, and in doing so, achieved some genuine results.

If the cathedral and the Diocese of British Columbia were to put as much energy into their evangelization efforts, as they have done into their support of Intent City Zen, they might be able to turn around a diocese that has lost its spiritual direction and is gradually dying on its feet.

Brian McGregor-Foxcroft lives in Victoria, BC, and is a graduate of the University of British Columbia and of Regent College, Vancouver