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He gave the place no name, merely put a sign on the door announcing the hours bread and wine would be served. Eventually it came to be called the Bread and Wine Mission—known informally as "The Mission" to the swingers, wailers and generally far-out, cats who began filling the place almost immediately.
Delattre holds weekly seminars in poetry and prose, stages original plays, has a psychiatrist from the San Francisco Veterans' Administration give group therapy sessions. On Sundays Delattre invites a select half-dozen to his flat for an agape* of bread, wine and cheese.
In old trousers and a hooded sweatshirt with a large cross hanging from his neck, Pastor Delattre is a busy man—serving his bread and wine, bailing his flock out of jail, counseling pregnant girls, speaking to church groups, being pointed out to tourists (the mission is a regular stop for sightseeing buses). He never brings up the subject of religion. "If they ask, I reply. And, believe me, many people preach to me, and I've been transformed. Church people often ask me: 'Have things been successful? How many have become Christians? Is this worth the investment?' When I first came here, I was anxious to see practical results. Now I've learned that one must act according to one's conviction in relation to others, and then let them go without standing around to see what the effect has been. If someone says, 'What are you doing here?' I would just say, 'I'm here.' "
* The "love feast" or community religious meal, pra'cticed by the early Christians.