Houses of worship across the country are being singled out and harassed for carrying out their religious mission. Cities are trying to shut down ministries that take care of the most vulnerable among us.
Whether it’s churches that open their doors to give people a place to stay or those that feed the hungry, it seems that city officials are fixated on criminalizing compassion.
City officials in Bryan, Ohio continue to target Pastor Chris Avell of Dad’s Place Church.
For over a year, the city has been aggressively attacking the church in court, including alleged zoning violations, middle-of-the-night fire inspections, police antagonism and even criminal charges filed against Pastor Chris.
Pastor Chris was recently found guilty of criminal charges for refusing to lock the doors of the church when it is four degrees outside. Yes, you read that correctly. Pastor Chris is now legally considered a criminal.
Why? For the alleged “crime” of keeping the doors of his church open to minister and serve anyone who needs help.
It’s clear that Bryan officials will not rest until Pastor Chris is in a jail cell and the church’s ministry is completely shut down.
First Liberty isn’t going to let that happen. We’ve appealed the criminal conviction, and our civil case continues in state court. We’re going to keep fighting for Pastor Chris and the people of Dad’s Place.
Pastor Jose Castro and Gethsemani Baptist Church in San Luis, Arizona are also being targeted for serving and feeding the hungry.
For 25 years, the church’s food ministry has distributed hundreds of thousands of pounds of food. About 300 families received food with every distribution. The church also donates food to other churches in surrounding cities and even across the border into Mexico.
But San Luis city officials are trying to shut down the church’s food ministry.
City officials have sent multiple letters ordering Pastor Jose and the church to stop their food distribution ministry. City code enforcers have even showed up unannounced to issue citations.
Because of the city’s intimidation tactics, Gethsemani has been forced to significantly cut back its ministry, which means a lot of people are going hungry.
The city even pursued criminal charges against Pastor Jose for allegedly violating zoning codes. We secured a victory last month and got the criminal charges. But this legal battle isn’t over. We’re still fighting this case in federal court, and the outcome of that lawsuit could finally put a stop to the city’s harassment.
Churches shouldn’t be threatened or fined for feeding the hungry and caring for the most vulnerable. Government should support—not punish—houses of worship that do essential work for their communities. Criminalizing compassion betrays everything that religious freedom in America is about.
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