On December 3, 2000, a homeless man by the name of William Wallace Brown, Jr., was buried in the graveyard of the prestigious St. John’s Episcopal Church, across from the White House. This would not be unusual except that St. John’s is called the “church of presidents.” Since 1808, the time of the James Madison presidency, nearly every U.S. leader has worshiped there.
So how is it, that this street bum was laid to rest in a prominent burial garden? It all began one Sunday morning when the homeless man spotted George H. W. Bush entering the church and asked the president to pray for him. Bush looked at him for a moment and said, “No, come inside with us and pray for yourself.” And, so he did. He became a permanent part of the services and every week would place a crumpled dollar bill in the silver collection plate.
In October of last year he died. During the funeral for William Brown one of the speakers said that in the eyes of God, “the homeless and the most important are one in the same.”