wfn.org | Portland's religious community protests limits on worship, outreach

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Feb. 15, 2000  News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-71B{069}

By Linda Sullivan
and Charlene Choate*

PORTLAND, Ore. (UMNS) -- More than 1,100 religious leaders, churchgoers and
civic activists gathered Feb. 13 to protest a city official's ruling that
closed down a meals ministry and set a limit on worship attendance at a
local United Methodist Church.

The ruling against Sunnyside Centenary United Methodist Church has sparked a
debate over constitutional rights and also focused attention on the
challenges of ministering to the hungry and homeless.

The 800-seat sanctuary of First United Methodist Church in downtown Portland
was packed with a standing-room-only crowd for the 90-minute meeting.
Speakers explained the issue and expressed concern at the city's decision.
People from all walks of life and religious affiliations pledged support to
Sunnyside's campaign to have the decision overturned when the Portland City
Council considers the issue March 1.

"The Wednesday night supper is a place where neighbors, church members and
friends, including but not limited to the homeless, gather for common
fellowship, prayer, singing and dining together," said Pat Schwiebert of
Metanoia Peace Community, a United Methodist group and one of the ministry's
sponsors. Ministry leaders were grateful to the neighbors for the "wake-up
call," she said. She believes the publicity has "opened the eyes of many
people in Portland to the deeper issues of hunger, poverty and
homelessness."

Schwiebert spoke of the challenge to love and reach out to all people, not
just to those who look, act, dress and smell a certain way, and of
fearlessly seeing all people as human beings. "That we minister to the less
fortunate is mandated by God and is not a right to be given or taken away by
the city," she concluded.

The Jan. 17 ruling by land-use hearings officer Elizabeth Normand revoked a
conditional use permit issued by the city for Wednesday and Friday evening
suppers. Normand went on to limit attendance at worship to 70 participants.
Sunnyside's 100-year-old sanctuary seats 400. That part of the ruling turned
the issue into a question of First Amendment rights and drew national
attention to the debate.

"The issue of freedom of religious expression is a critical one in our
society," said the Rev. Steve Sprecher, Metro District superintendent of the
United Methodist Church's Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference. "I think this is
one of those things where the entire religious community of Portland feels
very threatened."

On Feb. 11, the city attorney's office recommended backing off the
attendance limit but retaining the restrictions on the meals programs.

In the weeks since Normand's decision, opposition among religious leaders
and church members has escalated. People working with the poor have
expressed outrage, noting that budget-strapped city leaders have urged
charitable and religious institutions to "take up the slack" in caring for
the homeless and needy. Advocates for the poor fear the chilling effect the
decision could have on similar faith-based programs in neighborhood
settings.

Tom Badrick, neighborhood association president and land-use chairman, was
quoted in The Oregonian newspaper as saying, "I'm concerned that issues that
were raised through the process will not be given proper attention. This is
an opportunity for better clarification for when livability is more
important than other issues.

"It's one thing to see a transient downtown once a week at a bus stop," he
said. "It's another to see them in your yard every day."

Neighbors have complained about aggressive patrons, litter, alcohol- and
drug-related activity by some people who also attend the evening programs,
and incidents of trespassing. A resident standing outside Sunnyside church
on Feb. 13 said neighbors feel threatened by transients and others attracted
by the suppers, but they also feel uncomfortable criticizing the programs.

At the protest gathering, Sunnyside's ministry drew praise from Alan Levine,
who has been helped by the program. Changes in his life couldn't have
occurred without people like the church meal providers, who accepted him as
a person with value, he said.

"Most alcoholics and addicts want to come 'out of the cave' and back into
society, but they don't know how," he said. He spoke of the need to treat
each other not as strangers, but as neighbors. Levine is clean and sober for
four years, after four decades of addiction. He is married, employed and is
an honor student at a local college.

Valerie Chapman, who helps operate a similar program at St. Francis of
Assisi Catholic Church, spoke of the need to translate words into action.
"Where is the justice in our city?" she asked. "There has been a great human
cost to the 'livability' in this city. We are short 900 units of affordable
housing, but there is no item in the city budget for affordable housing.
This is a 'livability' issue."

The dispute at Sunnyside began in late 1998, when a group of neighborhood
residents complained to the Sunnyside Neighborhood Association about drunk
and disorderly people hanging around the church during and after Wednesday
and Friday evening outreach programs. The meals ministry has been based at
Sunnyside since 1985 and is open to everyone, not just the poor and
homeless. 

In addition to residences, the neighborhood around Sunnyside Church houses
10 taverns and 14 retail stores selling beer and wine, along with a large
department store, 24-hour drug store, public library, park and several
social services agencies. 

In response to the complaints, the church discontinued both activities for
three months and took steps to address the problems. It established a code
of conduct to control unacceptable behavior; hired a security guard to
enforce the code and bar people who exhibit anti-social behavior - a move
that tripled the ministry's budget; organized a volunteer foot patrol,
trained by the city, to cover several blocks around the church before,
during and after the suppers; and set up a church hotline so neighbors could
report problems.

Neighbors continued to object to the programs, and the neighborhood
association petitioned the city to review conditional use permits and bar
the church from offering services to the needy.

A review of the permits by city planning staff resulted in a recommendation
to allow the church activities to continue, but with conditions designed to
minimize adverse effects on the community. On Dec. 6, 1999, the planning
staff recommendation went to the hearings officer, who also heard public
testimony at the time. Most of the public comment from neighboring residents
supported the continuation of church activities, as did most of the written
testimony. The church reported receiving no complaints about worship
services.

In its appeal, the church is asking the city to reject the limit on the
number of participants in worship and Bible study on Sunday and Wednesday
nights; to overturn the prohibition on Wednesday and Friday suppers; and to
address the issues of hunger, poverty and the shortage of affordable housing
through funding. Sunnyside Church also is offering to formulate a "good
neighbor agreement" and have it monitored by the city.

"The issue is hospitality ... about people opening their hearts to others,"
said Rabbi Joseph Wolf of Congregation Havurah Shalom. "We must demand a
cessation of this assault on kindness perpetrated against people of faith
doing God's work. It isn't about livability, it's about lovability."
# # #
*Sullivan is editor of and Choate is a reporter for the Oregon-Idaho Annual
Conference's United Methodist Record.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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