chris avell
Ohio Pastor Files Federal Lawsuit Over Charges for Helping Homeless
An attorney for Pastor Chris Avell said city officials have launched a "smear campaign of innuendo and half-truths" to get him to stop hosting homeless people in his church.
Chris Avell, a pastor in Bryan, Ohio who opened his church to the city's "vulnerable" residents to give them a place to stay amid freezing winter weather, is suing city officials over what he says is "discrimination" and "harassment" stemming from criminal charges he faced for providing housing for homeless people.
Avell filed a federal lawsuit on Monday against the city of Bryan, Mayor Carrie Schlade, Police Department Capt. Jamie Mendez, zoning official Andrew Waterson, and Fire Chief Doug Pool.
In court filings, Avell said he hosted an average of eight unhoused people per night at his church, Dad's Place, "without incident" for several months before the city tried to stop him from keeping the facility open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
As Common Dreamsreported last week, city officials told Avell he could no longer house people in the church because it lacked bedrooms and was zoned as a central business, in which Ohio prohibits residential use.
"It was city police officers who would bring people by. The local hospital would call and bring people by... Other homeless shelters would call and bring people by."
Authorities arrived at the church during a New Year's Eve service and issued 18 zoning and fire code violations.
Despite Avell's assertion that welcoming unhoused people into the church, which is located next to a homeless shelter that has experienced overcrowding, has not caused any disruptions in the community, Bryan city officials said in a new release that police saw an increase in reports of "inappropriate activity" at Dad's Place in May 2023, two months after Avell first opened the church at all hours.
"It was city police officers who would bring people by," Avell toldThe Associated Press on Tuesday. "The local hospital would call and bring people by. Other homeless shelters would call and bring people by."
He told the outlet that two volunteers have acted as security guards since he began the overnight "Rest and Refresh in the Lord ministry," and that the church has allowed anyone who needs shelter to stay overnight, only asking them to leave if "there is a biblically valid reason for doing so or if someone at the property poses a danger to himself or others."
Avell's lawsuit alleges that the city has moved the "goalposts" in its directives to him regarding safety and zoning codes. Officials ordered him to install a hood over the stove in the church's kitchen, but after he complied, the city said the hood was not sufficient and required him to have the state inspect it.
"Nothing satisfies the city,” Jeremy Dys, Avell's attorney, told the AP. "And worse—they go on a smear campaign of innuendo and half-truths."
Avell accused the city of engaging in a "campaign to harass, intimidate, and shut down Dad's Place" and said the order to stop housing homeless people was "directly contrary to its religious obligation."
Represented by a conservative legal group called the First Liberty Institute, Avell alleged that the city has violated his rights under the First Amendment, the equal protection clause under the 14th Amendment, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
The court filings included a request for a restraining order against the city as well as damages and attorneys' fees.
Ohio Pastor Charged for Opening Church to Homeless People in Freezing Weather
"This is actual religious persecution of a Christian by the state," said one journalist. "An actual violation of religious liberty."
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.
"Many of these people have been rejected by their families and cast aside by their communities. So, if the church isn't willing to lay down its life for them, then who will? This is what we're called to do," Avell toldFox News.
Dad's Place is located next to a homeless shelter, but overcrowding at the facility led Avell to begin offering space to unhoused people. "We have put in things people can use, like a shower and a small ability to do laundry," the pastor toldThe Village Reporter in Bryan. "Some who found this to be a home for them have stuck around."
Ashton Pittman, editor of the Mississippi Free Press, said Avell's story was a rare example in the U.S. of "actual religious persecution of a Christian by the state."
Avell's attorney, Jeremy Dys, called the city's prosecution of the pastor "unconscionable."
"The city would rather kick these folks to the curb in the cold outdoor months of December and early January than allow the church to remain open 24/7 to those who need it the most," Dys told the Journal Sentinel.
Avell's story garnered national attention as bitterly cold weather was expected across much of the country, including Ohio.
Causey noted that Avell was charged days before Milwaukee officials began investigating at least three homeless people's possible deaths from hypothermia, when the area was experiencing extreme cold.
"Homeless shelters fill up this time of the year as people seek refuge from the bitter cold. While shelters do their best to ensure no one ends up in the cold, people often get frustrated and tough it out on the street," wrote Causey. "Avell saw a problem. He addressed the issue by helping 100 people and is now facing criminal charges. Does this sound right to anyone?"
The nation's homeless population grew sharply by 12% in 2023, with nearly 654,000 without housing.
"A combination of the cold, growing unhoused population, and lack of housing shelters is the reason why charges against Avell must be dropped," Causey wrote.
Avell has said he plans to continue housing the homeless population in his church this winter. Two days after his arraignment, as more cold weather was expected, Dad's Place posted on its Facebook page a notice inviting "Anyone who could use a warm place" to "walk right in and enjoy hot coffee, cocoa, soup in our heated building."
"Stop in to warm up or stay as long as you/they need," read the post.