What Makes Us One

Hello! My name is Elizabeth, and I am one of the many people who were responsible for making 'For The One' possible at Church Under the Bridge (CUB) in Waco, Texas. I graduated from Baylor University in August 2024 in Cultural Anthropology. While at Baylor, I learned about Church Under the Bridge being a community that has gathered under an interstate bridge every Sunday for the past 30 years, serving people experiencing homelessness while inviting the broader city to foster unity and compassion across class divides.

After graduation, reflecting on those who experience homelessness and poverty within Waco, I asked myself three questions:

What is a community, and who is responsible for it?

Who is my community?

Am I responsible for them?

CUB's mission says it all: 'Black, white and brown, rich and poor, educated in the streets and in the university, all serving the same God who makes us one.' For three decades, they've created a unique environment where relationships form across socio-economic lines, challenging the divisions, disconnection, and isolation that often exist between individuals, neighborhoods, and social classes within our city.

Homelessness and poverty in America raises strong opinions, heated debates, and many assumptions. I knew little about the experience of poverty in America, yet I wanted to better understand the complexity within the 'American experience.' After my graduation from Baylor, with questions of culture still on my mind, I wanted to know my community outside of my circle, learn about their experiences and feelings on identity, and understand how CUB can teach me to better serve and restore relationships within our cities.

In a short time, I learned that while socioeconomic divides reveal how we are fundamentally different, many of us resonate with the humanity of stories, testimonies, and mental health journeys from individuals across cultures and time. There have been times when I felt lost, as if I was a wandering nomad through life, and while many of us may share this feeling, most will have a bed to sleep in at night and a support system to remind us of our valued identity. We are all born into different circumstances and forms of privilege, yet we all experience regret, loss, fear, and hope for our future. We are each confined to our own unique lives, and perhaps that is what makes us alike.

My goal is to understand how practices at CUB can inform other cities that seek to replicate similar models. I have had the privilege to know the people I might see on familiar street corners. Instead of avoiding eye contact at a red light, we wave to one another with a smile, sharing in the joy of seeing a friend, and I drive away knowing we will fellowship this coming Sunday at CUB.

For The One conducts interviews, hears stories, and shares in the space at CUB. We highlight testimonies of faith from all backgrounds, create art to encourage discussion and pride in creativity, and empower people in their identity by loving every neighbor in our community.

If they are in my community, then they are my community, and we have a responsibility to our community.

I hope to soon share more about what we have learned through our experience.