A church in Bryan, Ohio, is suing the city in federal court after police filed criminal charges against its pastor for providing a 24/7 ministry and shelter for homeless people.
Pastor Chris Avell of Dad’s Place church faces 18 criminal charges after city police accused him of violating the zoning ordinance, lacking proper kitchen and laundry facilities, and having hazardous exits and improper ventilation, according to the Associated Press. The church filed a lawsuit against the city, Bryan Mayor Carrie Schlade, and other Bryan officials on Monday on the grounds of violating their right to free exercise of religion.
The rented church building is located near a separate homeless shelter in Bryan, a city of approximately 8,600 residents. Leaders of Dad’s Place decided last March to open the church as an all-hours, temporary emergency shelter “for people to go who have nowhere else to go and no one to care for them,” according to the lawsuit. The “Rest and Refresh in the Lord” ministry, from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m., includes musician Johnny Cash’s reading of the Bible.
“I truly believe that everyone who walks through the door of Dad’s Place walks out a better citizen,” Avell told the Associated Press, adding that shutting down the 24-hour ministry “would lose what is actually a beacon of light downtown.”
Eight people stay in the church on a typical night, according to the lawsuit, with a few more added when the weather gets bad.
“It was city police officers who would bring people by,” Avell said. “The local hospital would call and bring people by. Other homeless shelters would call and bring people by.” Two volunteers stay with the visitors, he said, one being “kind of a peacemaker and one is kind of a security guard.”
Police calls to the church to investigate possible criminal activity began to increase in May, according to a press release from the city. Bryan’s planning and zoning administrator told the church it had 10 days to stop housing people, claiming it was in a zone that does not permit residential use on the first floor.
Local police reportedly sought charges against Avell for code violations early last month after an inspection. Avell pleaded not guilty in municipal court this month and called the charges unexpected and humiliating.
Jeremy Dys, attorney for Avell and the church, said he believes city leaders do not want the ministry to sit in the middle of town, painting the situation as a not-in-my-backyard matter, per the outlet.
“Nothing satisfies the city,” Dys said on Monday. “And worse — they go on a smear campaign of innuendo and half-truths.”
The church’s lawsuit alleges that the city “repeatedly attempted to harass and intimidate the church,” while Dad’s Place has worked to address the city’s complaints by installing a new stove hood and shutting down laundry services.
While the judge considers an injunction against the city, the federal judge and lawyers for both sides met on Tuesday morning to agree on the status quo, Dys said. The church will remain open for those seeking religious services until March 4.
The defendants in the case adamantly deny that they had “treated any religious institution inappropriately,” Bryan city attorney Marc Fishel said.
“The city has been and continues to be interested in any business, any church, any entity complying with local and state law,” Fishel continued.
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The lawsuit calls on the judge to protect the church from alleged violations of the First Amendment regarding the free exercise of religion and protections against government hostility toward religion.
“No history or tradition justifies the city’s intrusion into the church’s inner sanctum to dictate which rooms may be used for religious purposes, how the church may go about accomplishing its religious mission, or at what hours of the day religious activities are permitted,” according to the lawsuit.