PORTLAND, Ore. — Attorneys from the U.S. Department of Justice are throwing their support behind a church in the southern Oregon coastal town of Brookings that was told by city officials to curtail the meals that it provides to homeless people.
St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Brookings has been providing food to people on its church property for about 14 years. Members of the church say that some city leaders, including the city's former longtime mayor, even used to help out with the meals.
In 2020, the church expanded its services to feed people up to six days a week as other nonprofits were unable to keep up with the skyrocketing need during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But neighbors got upset with the regular presence of homeless people around the church, citing concerns to public health and safety — so they lobbied the city, asking officials to force the church to stop.
By October of 2021, the Brookings City Council had unanimously passed a new zoning ordinance limiting churches to meals two days a week. Reverend Bernie Lindley, the pastor at St. Timothy's, said he refuses to comply with the ordinance. Feeding people in need is imperative to the way he practices his religion, Lindley said.
"When we feed people, this isn't like a hobby for us. This is a deeply held religious belief," said Lindley. "This we believe fervently, that we need to feed people, that what we do for the people who are on the margins is what we do for Christ himself. And so this isn't something we take lightly. This is something that is a cornerstone to who we are as as Christians, this is how we understand our relationship to Christ, so there is no doubt that this is how we practice our religion."
Lindley said that housing prices started skyrocketing in Brookings before the pandemic, and so did the number of homeless people. According to reporting from the Curry Pilot in Brookings, a 2021 survey showed about 200 homeless people in the city — in a town of about 6,700 people. The survey showed that about 60% of homeless people were longtime residents of Brookings.
"Our society needs to recognize that these are just people that are struggling, trying to get by as best they can," Lindley said. "And instead of assuming the worst about them or scapegoating and blaming them for whatever, you know, assuming that if there's violence or if there's thievery that it must be the homeless person ... The more services, the more care we can offer to them, the less likely they are going to need to be desperate and perhaps be driven to do desperate things."
In February 2022, Lindley and St. Timothy's sued the city of Brookings, positing that the two-day ordinance unfairly prevented them from practicing their religion. The city has argued that giving out food does not count as a religious practice.
But last week, the U.S. Department of Justice filed paperwork in the case in support of St. Timothy's and its lawsuit. The federal agency told the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon that they should rule against Brookings.
"Many churches and faith-based organizations across the country are on the front lines serving the critical needs of people experiencing hunger and homelessness," the DOJ wrote. "Discriminatory zoning restrictions that burden and limit religious organizations' use of their land violate federal antidiscrimination laws."
The department cited a federal law, called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, that prohibits local governments from placing "unjustifiable burdens on religious exercise," among other protections. The DOJ said it refutes the city's claim that the law does not apply in this context.
The Story reached out to Brookings for comment but they did not respond.
Lindley said that he's received support from people across the country, and he's happy to have the DOJ behind him as well.
"It's kind of humbling if you think about it," he said. "Here we are in the most remote corner — well, I don't know about the most remote corner, but you know, in the far southwest netherland of Oregon — and there are people who care that we are not, you know, that our that our religious freedoms are not trampled on."
The case is now in the hands of the federal district court in Oregon.