Pittsfield Ordinance: A Reflection

July 28, 2025
 

Dear Friends, 

​Over the last two months, we have been part of a community conversation sparked by two proposed ordinances by the Pittsfield City Council, the latest is a ban on camping. My many hours in conversation about these issues have deepened my understanding of the complexity of this issue, both with those who are experiencing homelessness and those within the business community. 

I know many people who have been camping quietly, some for more than a year, placed here by a broken system that does not have enough affordable housing.  Some struggle with addiction. Others don’t have enough to make ends meet as they wait for their name to come to the top of the five-year-long (or longer) Section 8 waiting list.  Homelessness is as complex as each individual that is forced to endure it.  It is not a one size fits all problem and there is not a one size fits all solution.  It never has been and never will be.  

In conversation with business owners, I have heard the frustration and fear expressed about solid waste and drug paraphernalia found on and around their premises. These are real and legitimate safety, hygiene, and dignity concerns. I have asked myself, "How might I respond and/or feel if this was the daily reality I was facing as a business owner?”

​There are no easy answers.   

Driving through downtown with my children, I realized my son's current song obsession, played on repeat, may offer some poignant commentary on a way through this for us as a community.  Driving down North St. past Marketplace, Barrington Stage, Witch Slapped, Wander and Dottie’s; as we have pulled into the library to return books or pulled into Berkshire Medical Center (BMC) for an appointment, this refrain from a Thomas and Friends song has continuously looped in the background, “Don’t just build it for you. Don’t just build it for me. Build it for everybody.”  

The downtown we long for is a place of dignity, for those experiencing homelessness, for business owners, for my children and yours ... built for everybody.   

These simple lyrics are a reminder amid these difficult conversations, we are not enemies, even though opinions may differ, we are being given the opportunity to build something better together. This is the vision that can weave us into a larger whole.   

Right now, in our current national context, some may label this as naïve.  Our country, our county, and currently our city deserve a better way. This is a hope we can lean into. Now, perhaps more than ever, we need each other. Things are only going to get harder.  If we remain committed to being right or winning more than finding a way that will work for all, there will always be an "us" and a "them."

Each Sunday, during the opening gathering at Cathedral, we remind each other that, “each and every one of us is made in the image and likeness of God” and that “we and our neighbors are loved even when we make mistakes.”  I remind the community that this isn’t simply a statement of faith. These words are a practice, an invitation to remember as we go about our daily work in the world. In this moment, we, the people of Pittsfield, are being challenged to discover together what it means both to create and to live in a community that recognizes God’s image in each one of us.

We, at Cathedral of the Beloved, have something incredibly important to contribute to this work. At Cathedral, our tables are not only the place where we break bread together, they are the place where we make these words real.  These tables are our bridge from isolation into community, the place where misconceptions become compassion and greater understanding. At our tables we change from “us and them” to “we.” We, at Cathedral, can teach the people of Pittsfield what it takes to go from “us and them” to “we”.   

​You, my friends -  whether you have a roof made of shingles or is the canvas of a tent; whether you are having a good week, a bad week wherever you find yourself - our job together is to create a place where we can learn from one another as we break bread. To share stories and ease the load that we all carry in the middle of life’s wilderness.  

​We hope you join us as we try to find our way through this wilderness and together co-create a downtown Pittsfield “built for everybody.”
​
​With hope,
Jenny+
​
​​The Rev. Jennifer Gregg,
Priest/Pastor

Photo by bassam mohamamd on Unsplash