Fifteen years ago, Pastor Austin Smith felt God give him a nudge.

He was pursuing a degree in theology and leading a Bible-study class but God told him he’d serve people better if he went beyond the four walls of the church.

He made six plates of codfish and potato breakfasts, which he handed out to the City of Hamilton’s homeless along with an encouraging word.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but I started by ministering to people on Front Street,” he said. “That was what I felt I was supposed to do. The next week I made nine breakfasts and did the same thing. People would come out and sit on paint tins and buckets as I preached and, over time, it just started to grow.”

The Church Without Walls typically attracts between 20 and 30 people to its 12.30pm Sunday meetings on the second level of Bull’s Head Car Park.

People are encouraged to come as they are and receive a practical Biblical message delivered “straight up with no chaser”, followed by a hearty meal courtesy of The Eliza DoLittle Society.

“From day one I felt the word of God had to be given to people that wouldn’t usually go to a conventional church,” Mr Smith said. “Somewhere they didn’t have to dress up or worry if they hadn’t had a bath, where they could come just as they are.

“A lot of churches say that but if someone came in and hadn’t bathed in two weeks and smelled, they would definitely get some strange looks. I wanted a ministry where people who have those types of challenges would be welcome.”

Everyone who attends The Church Without Walls has a story.

Some are homeless or marginalised, others are battling serious mental health issues or are caught up in a life of crime, drugs or prostitution.

“People come here, hear the message of God and it changes their lives and many of them move on to be productive members of the community,” Mr Smith said. “Some of them can be found in different churches. Every now and then, I run into someone saying thank you. They tell me how their life has been transformed.

“One woman was living in abandoned houses. She was a cocaine addict and prostitute when she came here. Now she is a woman of dignity. Another woman was afraid because of her mental challenges with schizophrenia, but I look at her now and she helps to read the scriptures and shares her poetry in the services.

“We have a mix of people, yet there is no line of demarcation — even if it exists, everybody is going to be treated with respect.”

Every year, the ministry hosts a clothing drive for some of the regulars.

On one occasion, a woman brought some clothes but asked that they not go to any drug addicts or alcoholics.

“I said, ‘If that’s the case, don’t give us the clothes’,” Mr Smith said. “Jesus kept company with sinners and He fed the hungry — we will continue to do that.”

Although rewarding, running the ministry hasn’t always been easy.

For many years, he bought food for the congregation with his own money; as little as $5 would sometimes be received as part of the weekly offering.

More recently, support has come from The Eliza DoLittle Society, while other charities and wholesalers have offered discounts on food. Still the ministry struggles with costs.

“For ten years I thought, ‘I don’t want to do this’. I fought with God every step of the way,” Mr Smith said. “I wanted to teach the Bible, I didn’t want to be out on the streets. But about five years ago I had a health scare and had to be taken to Johns Hopkins for major surgery.

“I had an opportunity while I was there to speak to God and I had an experience where I felt someone telling me I was going to die in that hospital room and that the ministry would be given to my daughter. It went against everything God had told me personally, so I rejected it and sang By His Stripes I Am Healed.

“I had just come out of surgery and wasn’t breathing properly. I said to God, ‘You get me a comeback, I will fully commit myself to doing this’.”

Mr Smith’s sermons differ from those at a traditional church service. Many members of the congregation don’t know the difference between Genesis and Revelation; they didn’t grow up attending church.

“I aim to make the messages uplifting and empowering,” he said. “I can’t bring a message that’s informational. It has to be transformational because we help people live better lives.”

For more information call 703-9132.