Ohio pastor sues city after he was charged for housing homeless people at church

An Ohio pastor is suing his city after officials ordered him to stop sheltering homeless people at his rented church building — and even charged the preacher with violating the city’s zoning codes.

Chris Avell, pastor of Dad’s Place church in Bryan, Ohio, argues that city officials are trying to stifle him from exercising his religious beliefs by preventing him from housing those in need of shelter in his 43-page complaint filed in the United States District Court for Northern Ohio on Monday.

He also claims that the city officials waged a months-long harassment campaign to try to force him to evict the homeless seeking refuge at his church.

“Instead of prosecuting a pastor in an effort to drive his congregation from her sight, Mayor [Carrie] Schlade should be supporting a church trying to care for the marginalized in her community,” Avell’s attorney Jonathan Dys said in a news conference after filing the lawsuit.

“The Constitution and the law demand nothing less.”

But Bryan city officials say Avell has created a dangerous situation at the church, which is allegedly in violation of fire code and where police have been called in for reports of overdoses, disturbing the peace and sexual assault.

Chris Avell, the pastor of Dad’s Place church in Bryan, Ohio, argues that city officials are trying to stifle him from exercising his religious beliefs by preventing him from housing those in need of shelter. AP

Dad’s Place has kept its doors open 24/7 for those in need since March 2023, when Avell saw homeless people standing in line waiting for beds at the shelter next door amid a local housing shortage, according to the Washington Post.

“It was heartbreaking,” he said.

The church now has a policy that allows anyone to stay overnight without church officials asking them to leave “unless there is a biblically valid reason for doing so or if someone at the property poses a danger to himself or others,” according to the complaint.

On average, the lawsuit says, an average of eight people seek shelter at the church each night — though that number may increase to 12 if there is an emergency like severe weather.

Many of those who seek shelter at the church have been turned away from nearby shelters due to overcrowding or were referred to Dad’s Place by the local police department, the lawsuit argues.

They are watched over by two volunteers, one of whom has been described as a “peacemaker” while the other is “kind of a security guard,” Avell has said.

The church is located in the city’s central business zoning district, which prohibits anyone from eating, sleeping or washing their clothes on property grounds. Google Maps

“The church’s religious mission in operating in this manner is to provide a place for people to go who have nowhere else to go and no one to care for them,” the lawsuit states.

But the church is located in the city’s central business zoning district, which prohibits anyone from eating, sleeping or washing their clothes on property grounds, city officials have said.

They also claim that police calls to investigate inappropriate activity at the church began to increase just two months after Avell opened up the church to the homeless — citing instances of overdoses, thefts and sexual assaults.

By Nov. 3, the city’s planning and zoning administrator had sent Dad’s Place a cease-and-desist letter, ordering it to stop housing people within 10 days.

But Avell and other church leaders decided the order would contradict their religious obligation to care for “the least of these” in the community, a reference to a verse in the Book of Matthew, and decided to keep the church open at all hours of the day, according to the suit.

City officials say Avell has created a dangerous situation at the church, which is allegedly in violation of fire code and where police have been called in for overdoses, disturbing the peace and sexual assault. Carrie Schlade/Facebook

“The ministry of the church is not confined to Sunday morning at 11 a.m.,” Avell said in a news release at the time.

“We welcome anyone to experience the love and truth of Jesus, regardless of the time of day.”

Later that month, city officials ordered its fire chief to conduct an inspection of the church.

He found 18 violations, some of which the city said were serious and could “endanger the lives and safety of those in the building” including improperly installed laundry equipment, inadequate exits and concerns about ventilation.

The fire chief ordered the church to voluntarily fix the violations by Jan. 9, but when he returned on Jan. 16, he found that five violations remained, city officials said — claiming that most recently there was a gas leak coming from the church.

Avell, however, claims in his lawsuit that the church worked diligently to fix the violations, but city officials would “move the goalposts” during inspections.

Avell said he was compelled to act when he saw people waiting in line for beds at the shelter next door last year. Dad's Place/Facebook

City officials have denied these claims.

“We absolutely deny any allegations that the city has treated any religious institution inappropriately,” the city’s 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.”

City officials also claimed in a news release, “A church does not have any special rights under the zoning code and the city expects Pastor Avell and Dad’s Place will follow the law.”

They went on to deny that the city is “failing to support the homeless,” noting that a homeless shelter is open right next door to the church and “there are places in the city where Dad’s Place likely could operate a safe homeless shelter that would be consistent with the zoning code.”

In order to win the case, though, Bryan city officials will have to demonstrate that stopping Dad’s Place from housing the homeless serves a compelling public interest and that preventing people from staying there is the least restrictive way to serve that interest, according to Frederick Gedicks, a law professor at Brigham Young University.

At a hearing on Tuesday, church and city officials agreed to maintain the status quo and keep the church open for the homeless until at least March 4, when a judge considers the church’s request for an injunction against the city.

In the meantime, city officials are seeking to prosecute Avell criminally on the zoning code violations.

He pleaded not guilty on Jan. 11, and is due back in court for a pre-trial hearing on Jan. 30 before the trial begins on Feb. 9.

The Post has reached out to the Bryan Mayor’s Office for comment.

With Post wires.