We hear lots of stories about arrests made of those who try and help the homeless….banned from feeding these unfortunate people, to giving out water in Summer to those in need…..but the worst story comes out of Ohio….
Outrage spread Friday after the story about a pastor in Ohio who was arrested and charged for opening his church to homeless people when extreme cold weather struck his town gained national attention.
Chris Avell, the pastor of an evangelical church called Dad’s Place in Bryan, Ohio, pleaded not guilty last Thursday to charges that he broke 18 restrictions in zoning code when he gave shelter to people who might otherwise have frozen to death.
Avell garnered the attention of the Bryan City Zoning Commission last winter, when he invited unhoused people to stay in his church to avoid the cold and snow.
In November, officials told him Dad’s Place could no longer house the homeless because it lacks bedrooms. The building is zoned as a central business, and Ohio law prohibits residential use, including sleeping and eating, in first-floor buildings within business districts.
According to James Causey, a columnist at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Avell ignored the commission’s orders and again opened Dad’s Place to the homeless earlier this winter, until police arrived at the church during a New Year’s Eve service and issued the violations.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/ohio-pastor
Now if someone in Ohio would like to comment on this please let it fly.
Personally, I would have looked the other way until the temperature was more mild….that is just me.
Any thoughts?
I Read, I Write, You Know
“lego ergo scribo”
Romans 13:1-2 says: “Obey the government, for God is the One who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power. So those who refuse to obey the law of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow.”
And that is sad to believe such….helping people should never be against the law god’s or any other. chuq
Sometimes what is legal is not righteous.
True….at least he doing the right thing in my opinion. chuq
The law is the law and we are a nation of laws operating under the principle of the rule of law and if you want to house the homeless, then get a license and adjust your facilities to meet the requirements of a mission ministry and go for it. Otherwise, if you are a religious preacher with a church, abide by the admonitions in the Bible to obey the orders of those appointed over you. This guy apparently ignored both the Bible and the Law …and there were consequences as there always will be… Kay serah!
agree
There is empathy and sympathy and heartless assholes. chuq
So you would rather let people literally freeze to death on the streets than let someone break a zoning ordinance.
I see.
It is between the pastor and God whether he wants to ignore the scriptures or not… It has nothing to do with me. There are always going to be people freezing on the streets. Nobody can do it all. The money-wasting government has to get off their asses and address the homeless situation and with all the money they waste every year, they can well afford to do it. Of course, we all know that if the pastor keeps on breaking the zoning ordinance the time will come when his church is toast and condemned and sold off —like I said, it is his business. I cannot tell you how I would react because I do not have the facilities or the money to shelter people from the elements — but if I did I think I would borrow some capital and make my facilities up to code for the purpose of taking people in from the cold… it is not all that hard to do…either that or I would mount a public campaign of protest against the inhumane law that prevented me from doing the right thing….take the fight public ….let the voters see how uncaring their legislators are —that is part of what I would do….but this is not on me because, like I said, I am not a church pastor —How about this….let every concerned Christian take a homeless person into their own homes in bad weather —many people can well afford to do it …Maybe you have a barn or an out building and you could do it yourself….I don’t know…. I do give them money when I meet them on the streets and I do take them to restaurants and feed them when I meet them…until I can’t afford to….
“let every concerned Christian take a homeless person into their own homes in bad weather ”
And I’ve done exactly that when necessary. Last year the county jail dumped a poor young fellow out on the streets in -20 weather in the middle of January. He had no family in the county, no friends here, and under terms of his probation he couldn’t leave the county. And this county has no homeless shelter. The nearest shelter is across the county line so even if he managed to get there, he’d have ended up back in jail for violating his probation. We found him in an unheated tent behind the store where he’d gotten a job, damn near frozen by the time we got called. And yes, we took him in for the night until we could get hold of the damned fool at the court who’d dumped him on the street in below zero weather and got that straightened out so we could get him to the homeless shelter in the next county.
” invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Amen— and bless you..
There is more to this story….https://www.commondreams.org/news/ohio-pastor-2667069293
chuq
No one gets to break the rules. This opens the door for all kinds of nonsense to be committed in buildings all over the city “because it’s the right thing to do”. He could probably make arrangements with the city, in cooperation with the city, to help the homeless. How about I open a shooting range in my church because it will help people protect themselves? Can I open an unregulated food-serving kitchen ?” How about a free clinic with no professional medical staff ? What if I distribute legal medicine? Who’s libel if someone has a heart attack or if a child runs away or is kidnapped? Can I open for prostitution or for safe drug use? All Christians must work within the system and in the end Jesus has promised that his Church will prevail over all things. New Testament has scripture telling people to obey the civil authorities. Romans 13: 1-14, I Peter2: 1-2, Titus 3: 1-2. , et. al. Even Jesus said to “render unto Caesar …”We have plenty of cults harboring runaway children ? Do I invole the city and open my house for them ? How about the Christian minister who murders an abortion doctor to save lives and stop murder because it’s the right thing ? My church and its small congregation helps licensed government and private enterprises to help people.
We even have a garden and contributed 2,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to shelters and food banks this year. We obey God’s commission to assist the unfortunate and we obey the rules of secular civil government. Can I destroy all gas cars of people to save the planet? It is certainly a stretch and inappropriate to call any American entity Gestapo in our democracy.
I used parentheses for a reason….anytime the police storm in to prevent a person from help his fellow man is a scary thought. We are talking about housing homeless people from the bitter cold….cars is a bit much here chuq
Bible stuff here may be irrelevant for some and that’s OK but they should apply to the minister. In his way he’s modeling testimony and being stubborn too. Perhaps it takes both.
There is more to this story…..https://www.commondreams.org/news/ohio-pastor-2667069293
chuq
I walked into Central Park yesterday to find a notice put up on a park bench, notifying us that a 60 year old former Coast Guard veteran, known to sleep in that area of the park, was found dead due to hypothermia…the temperatures had dropped into the high teens. He was a human being, and no matter what his problems were physically or mentally, dying in a public park this way is simply not acceptable..it is sad that cities punish those who try to help when they allow it to happen. I also live in Los Angeles, where a number of added taxes were levied to use for housing the homeless….instead, the number has mushroomed…we pay taxes for services and these towns and cities need to be held accountable.
I agree it is sad that help comes with a price when it comes to the homeless. chuq
Give the Pastor a seat in whatever Government Agency helps the homeless and tell the Police next time they almost kill human beings for being unhoused, they can take it up with a UN court.
Not a bad idea at all chuq
Put the Pastor in charge of the City’s Homeless, and tell the police next time their shit could kill people we take it to the UN!
Heartless, and unnecesary. But this is the shape of things to come if Trump gets back into the White House.
Best wishes, Pete.
A very scary thought. chuq
lobotero – Thanks for story site. I would think a federal court would not even hear the case as perhaps complaint need be filed in local or state court. I suppose the minister has liability insurance. When the insurance company hears he is housing people on the insured property they would cancel his insurance immediately. I would suppose maintaining his operational license for city would require him to carry liability insurance and they would suspend the operational license if he no longer has any. Then he could not use the church for anything. Despite his service and concern and empathy he has become another person in our society who thinks the rules don’t apply to them which is a very alarming trend. He’s going to lose his case and I imagine the zoning board will issue fines which become liens on the property. Perhaps he’ll “get it ” then for the insistence that one can impose his will on government never wins.
The part of the report I found interesting is that city officials and police have dropped homeless off with this pastor numerous times….his actions show real christian concern and he was looking after his fellow man….that can never be bad in my book. chuq
Agree