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Published July 01, 2012, 12:00 AM

Photo gallery: The Rev. Jay Reinke of Concordia Lutheran Church


The parking lot at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., is regularly full overnight until 8 a.m. each day. About 30 to 40 people regularly sleep inside the church and dozens more sleep in their vehicles or RVs in the parking lot.

  • The parking lot at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., is regularly full overnight until 8 a.m. each day. About 30 to 40 people regularly sleep inside the church and dozens more sleep in their vehicles or RVs in the parking lot.
  • The Rev. Jay Reinke of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., leads a Bible study attended by people who sleep in the church or in the parking lot. Several who have stayed in the church also attend Sunday services and some have become church members.
  • 'Overnighters' who stay at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., pray following a Bible study led by the Rev. Jay Reinke.
  • The Rev. Jay Reinke of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., leads devotions for the men and women who sleep in the church or stay in their vehicles in the church parking lot.
  • Abiodun Ojeniyi, foreground, participates in devotions at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., where he stays while looking for a job. "This church has done a lot of wonderful things," says Ojeniji, a native of Nigeria. "I don't know where we would be if the church didn't take good care of us. We live here like brothers and sisters." Amy Dalrymple/Forum Communications
  • Mark Marney of Oregon follows along during devotions at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D. Marney is one of about 40 people who sleep inside the church while looking for work and housing.
  • Robert Peeler of California has been staying at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., for about three weeks. The husband and father of four was laid off from his job as a mechanic and moved to Williston to work. The family has a 55-acre ranch and had to take out a second mortgage on their home after losing 150 cows in one year.
  • Lalla Napier gets a change of clothes from the luggage room at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D. There was no room for Napier to stay in the church, so she and another woman slept in the Rev. Jay Reinke's car in the church parking lot.
  • Karina Arellano of Salt Lake City, foreground, slept in the library of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., while her fiance stayed in their car outside. The church was at capacity, but the Rev. Jay Reinke made an exception for Arellano because she is pregnant and two weeks from her due date.
  • Several of the "overnighters" visit outside of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., following a Bible study.
  • Brock Bonner of Florida eats dinner in the kitchen of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D. Bonner is working at McDonald's while pursuing a higher-paying job
  • Lorri Beyer cuts the hair of Jimmie Probert in the kitchen of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D. Beyer and her husband used to stay at the church and now she returns to give haircuts to guys who need them. "The church has been lifesavers to some people," Beyer says.
  • The Rev. Jay Reinke arrives at Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., at 6:45 a.m. each day and sings to the people who sleep in the church to wake them up. The guests have to take turns cleaning the church and be out of the parking lot by 8 a.m. each day.
  • The Rev. Jay Reinke puts fliers on the cars of people who sleep in the parking lot of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, N.D., asking them not to arrive until 8 p.m. The front and rear parking lots of the church fill up each night and Reinke is trying to minimize the impact on neighbors.