by Jorge Gomez • 1 minutes
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has joined First Liberty’s legal battle to defend Pastor Chris Avell and Dad’s Place Church.
Earlier this week, AG Yost wrote on an op-ed for The American Mind expressing his support for the church. He calls out local officials for harassing Dad’s Place and its ministry to the most vulnerable in Bryan, Ohio.
In March 2023, Dad’s Place began operating its ministry 24-hours a day to serve anyone who needed help and temporary shelter. For months, Dad’s place did so without incident, even receiving people brought to the church by the Bryan Police Department who had nowhere to go. But in November 2023, as winter began in Northern Ohio, Bryan city officials issued an ultimatum to the church: cease operating 24-hours a day or face crippling penalties.
“Bryan’s mayor does not like Dad’s Place and has mounted a year-and-a-half battle to close it down,” Yost wrote. “The police stopped bringing people. Instead, City Hall sent fire inspectors, zoning inspectors, building code inspectors—all the petty tools it has to express its displeasure with unfavored members of the community.”
“Pastor Chris keeps his church open to anybody, all the time, because he believes the words of Jesus as recorded in the 25th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel: ‘What you do for the least of these, you do it for me,’” Yost added. “This is a battle over the First Amendment and freedom of religion.”
AG Yost also submitted a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Dad’s Place after a state judge issued an alarming ruling against the church. That ruling would have effectively closed the church immediately. It also would have forced Dad’s Place to kick everyone out onto the cold, hard streets—at a time when the temperature is well below freezing.
In his brief, AG Yost argued that a stay of that ruling was necessary “to both prevent imminent harm to Ohio citizens who are relying tonight on the warmth of the first floor of Dad’s Place to escape the cold, and to appropriately litigate the Ohio constitutional rights potentially implicated by the City of Bryan’s enforcement of its regulations.”
“We are grateful for AG Yost’s leadership in defense of religious liberty for all Ohioans,” said First Liberty Senior Counsel Jeremy Dys. “He clearly understands the importance of respecting the free exercise of religion even when trying to enforce town ordinances.”
With AG Yost’s help, First Liberty won a stay from the Ohio Court of Appeals preventing the Bryan judge’s order from being enforced.
But this legal battle is far from over. Depending on how the Ohio Court of Appeals rules, the stay could be lifted, allowing the city of Bryan to clear out Dad’s Place.
That’s why we are turning up the heat on the Bryan officials. But to get them to stop harassing Pastor Chris and Dad’s Place, we need your help.
It’s clear that Bryan officials will not rest until Pastor Chris is in jail and Dad’s Place ministry is completely shut down. First Liberty isn’t going to let that happen. We’re going to keep fighting this case to make sure this unlawful discrimination stops.
Pastor Chris and the people of Dad’s Place need your support. Can they count on you? Your gift today can help our legal team secure a victory that will protect this church from the city’s constant attacks.
Please give to First Liberty today.
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