In the city of Bryan, Ohio, a seemingly harmless act of compassion has turned into a legal nightmare for a local pastor. His story exposes the ineptitude of many local governments when it comes to helping the homeless.

Pastor Chris Avell is suing the city after being charged for housing and feeding homeless individuals in his church. He found himself in the city’s crosshairs when he offered shelter to people who needed to escape the freezing weather.

An Ohio pastor who was charged with zoning violations for housing people experiencing homelessness has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Bryan and its officials.

Earlier this year, Pastor Chris Avell decided to keep the doors of his church, Dad's Place, open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to reach out to the city's most "vulnerable." Bryan is a small city of about 8,600 people, 65 miles west of Toledo.

In December, Avell was hit with 18 zoning violations by the city, which claimed he had violated a city ordinance that says residents can't stay on the first floor of that property. Further, the local fire chief found a slew of fire code violations at the church.

Avell pleaded not guilty to the charges at his Jan. 11 arraignment, according to online court records.

Now he's suing the city, claiming discrimination on the basis of religion and claiming city officials have launched a harassment campaign against the church.

The city argues that Avell had been given time to comply with the ordinance after receiving warnings — but apparently refused.

The city officials claim that the pastor had ignored repeated warnings and suggested that the criminal charges were warranted. The city also alleged that there was an increase in calls for service in May 2023 related to “inappropriate activity” at the church. These calls allegedly involved criminal mischief, trespassing, overdoses, harassment, and sexual assault. So far, the city has not provided any examples of this activity occurring at the church.

It is worth questioning whether this is an actual case of necessary law enforcement or the result of overzealous bureaucrats trying to make a point. The notion that they would seek to throw Pastor Avell into a jail cell for feeding the homeless is quite problematic. Would they have rather seen the homeless people freeze outdoors rather than stay in a warm church building? It seems clear to me that the city’s priorities are not in order.

Avell’s federal lawsuit alleges that the city and its officials are discriminating against him because of his religion and that it has launched a harassment campaign against his church. It doesn’t only challenge the zoning requirements but also invokes the First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

The pastor’s actions were clearly motivated by his religion. The Bible is clear in its calls on followers of Christ to take care of the needy.

Yes, it is important to ensure that facilities are safe. But it is clear that the city never truly planned to work with Pastor Avell to this end. Officials said from the get-go that they would not issue him a license even if he went through the process. It seems to me that this is yet another case in which local governments seek to control how people take care of those in need. I wrote about a similar case last year that occurred in Gastonia, North Carolina.

Avell’s situation is one of millions of reasons why local politics is important. When officials are willing to target pastors for doing what the Bible commands of us, they must be held accountable.