Church sues city over ordinance limiting number of days it can serve free meals to homeless
A church in Oregon filed a lawsuit against its local city council for limiting the number of free meals it can serve to two per week.
About 30 residents in the town of Brookings, Oregon, had filed a petition to the city pressuring St. Timothy's Episcopal Church to move, end or restrict the number of meals it gives after complaints about the homeless population in the area, according to a statement from St. Timothy's.
The town of Brookings has 6,431 residents, according to 2019 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. St. Timothy's has been in the community for decades, providing health clinics, food banks, vaccinations, showers, Internet access, meals and even a parking lot as a safe spot for people to sleep in their vehicles.
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When nearly every other church in the area suspended their free meal services during the pandemic, St. Timothy’s grew its program, according to a statement from the church.
“We’ve been serving our community here for decades and picking up the slack where the need exists and no one else is stepping in,” says St. Timothy’s vicar Reverend Bernie Lindley, called "Father Bernie" by the churchgoers. “We have no intention of stopping now, and we’re prepared to hold fast to our beliefs. We won’t abandon the people of Brookings who need our help, even when we’re being threatened.”
In response to the new limits from the city, St. Timothy's filed a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance, claiming that it interferes with their freedom to express their faith.
Brookings Mayor Ron Hedenskog, who put the ordinance in place, did not immediately respond for comment.
On top of declaring the ordinance invalid, the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon and St. Timothy’s are also asking a federal court in Oregon to bar any future attempt to enforce the ordinance against the church.
Michelle Shen is a Money & Tech Digital Reporter for Paste BN. You can reach her @michelle_shen10 on Twitter.