A CONSCIENCE TO CARE: A Call for Commitment with Compassion from the Church to the Street. Matthew 25:38.

A CONSCIENCE TO CARE: A Call for Commitment with Compassion from the Church to the Street. Matthew 25:38. By Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. Link: https://youtu.be/j2rkVokYDOs?feature=shared

On Tuesday afternoon at approximately 4:41 p.m., Fort Worth police were dispatched to the 2900 block of East Seminary Drive in response to a report of an unresponsive person. According to a department press release, officers arrived and discovered a woman unresponsive in a field. She was later pronounced dead at the scene by Fort Worth Fire EMS.

Homicide detectives responded, as is standard protocol. Authorities have stated that no foul play is suspected. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the cause, manner, and identity of the woman.

Even before the final report is issued, one truth confronts us: extreme cold can be fatal — and for the unsheltered, it is unforgiving.

At New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church, our hearts ache for this unidentified woman and for every neighbor who endures winter nights without warmth, protection, or certainty. A life lost in a field should shake the conscience of an entire city.

When God placed the assignment on our hearts to open a 24-hour warming center during the January 2026 winter ice storm, we did not have a strategic blueprint. There was no dedicated funding stream. No preassembled coalition. What we had was conviction.

And conviction said yes.

Since Friday, January 23, 2026, New Mount Rose has operated a 24-hour warming center in Fort Worth’s 76104 community — providing heat, hot meals, blankets, prayer, dignity, and what we call a Heavenly House of Hospitality for the unsheltered. During this winter emergency, more than 55 documented neighbors and families passed through our doors. Members, volunteers, and guests created something sacred together — not merely shelter, but community.

What began as a warming station became a sanctuary. Shelter may be temporary, but the impact of sanctuary can be eternal.

New Mount Rose was one of only two churches in Fort Worth to operate a 24-hour warming center during this storm. Only one other congregation in the city — St. John Downtown — opened its doors in similar fashion.

In a city marked by economic growth and expanding infrastructure, we must wrestle with an uncomfortable question: How do we possess so much capacity — yet still lose lives to cold exposure?

Do we lack resources — or resolve?

Are we collaborating effectively?

Are we mobilizing quickly enough when temperatures drop below survival levels?

This is not about blame. It is about responsibility.

In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus presents a sobering vision of accountability: “I was hungry and you gave me food. I was a stranger and you took me in. Naked and you clothed me.” When asked, “When did we see You?” His answer is unmistakable: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for Me.”

A warming center is not political activism. It is spiritual obedience.

As New Mount Rose prepares to conclude Operation: Save Souls from the Cold, we are committed to convening a citywide conversation on how the Church can respond more strategically and compassionately — addressing poverty from the bottom up rather than reacting only after tragedy strikes.

The Church holds tremendous assets: buildings that sit empty during the week, commercial kitchens, transportation networks, volunteers, land, and moral influence. These are not incidental resources. They are sacred trusts.

This woman’s death is a loss for humanity. Cold weather does not merely inconvenience — it kills. Let this not become another statistic buried in public records. Let it be a turning point.

Let it call the Church back to its conscience.

Let it call leaders back to commitment.

Let it call communities back to compassion.

Our times require it.

Our history demands it.

Our neighbors deserve it.

And God is still watching.

About Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr.

Pastor Kyev P. Tatum, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of New Mount Rose Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and a graduate of the University of North Texas School of Community Service. He is a pastor, publisher, and community advocate committed to faith-driven solutions addressing poverty, workforce development, education, and public health disparities.

Under his leadership, New Mount Rose served as a Monoclonal Antibody Infusion Center during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in January 2026, was one of only two churches in Fort Worth to operate a 24-hour warming center during the winter storm — providing shelter, meals, and spiritual care to more than 55 unsheltered neighbors.

His ministry consistently calls the Church beyond the sanctuary and into the streets, affirming that faith must be put to work.