A small church in Bryan, Ohio, has found itself at the center of a legal battle that has become all too common in cities nationwide.
Chris Avell, pastor of Dad’s Place Church, was recently convicted of violating fire codes when he began providing shelter to the homeless. This case pits local government regulations against the First Amendment right to religious freedom.
Pastor Avell opened Dad’s Place Church in 2018 to serve his community in downtown Bryan. The church began to grow, and in March 2023, it expanded into a 24/7 operation and provided a refuge for the homeless and other residents in need. The church provided more than just shelter—it also offered meals, haircuts, Bible studies, and a close-knit community for people who had fallen on hard times.
Jeremy Dys, Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute, told Townhall, “There’s a couple that sought shelter at this church that said, ‘If we hadn’t had Dad’s Place, we would be dead.’”
He added: “People would otherwise be forced to sleep in their cars and hopefully survive or be outside and likely at least come away with physical damage to their bodies, if not to be dead.”
Unfortunately, the church’s mission to feed and clothe the poor met with resistance from the local government. The city claimed Avell and his church violated local ordinances, especially related to fire prevention.
The city has conducted multiple inspections, issued a series of citations, and eventually brought criminal charges against the pastor. Officials contend that their objective is not to shut down Dad’s Place, but to ensure compliance with fire codes to protect public safety. They insist that when the church began housing homeless individuals overnight, it functionally became a residential facility that should comply with stricter safety requirements.
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Bryan Mayor Carrie Schlade told Townhall, “Providing shelter to people who are homeless is obviously a tremendously charitable act—but it must be done safely and under the laws we all follow.”
The crux of the issue is that the city wants Dad’s Place to install a $50,000 sprinkler system, which they claim is required for residential-use buildings. The church's building is old, and installing such a system would be unaffordable, according to Dys.
However, the mayor argued, “Other churches in the Bryan area have followed Ohio Code requirements to install suppression systems, alarm systems, and other safety features when those buildings were modified. Dad’s Place is in fact being treated equally with these other entities.”
Bryan Municipal Court Judge Kent North ruled that Dad’s Place had violated the fire code and fined Avell $200. He gave him a 60-day suspended jail sentence as well. However, he will be under probation for two years and will face jail time if he continues to house homeless people on his property.
Today, a judge found Pastor Chris Avell of Dad’s Place church guilty of a criminal charge filed against him by city officials. That's outrageous.
— First Liberty Institute (@1stLiberty) January 21, 2025
And First Liberty is not giving up. pic.twitter.com/io2m2XAmTM
Yet, Avell and his lawyers argue that the city’s arguments are not as cut-and-dry as it seems. The pastor’s legal team, led by First Liberty Institute, contends that the city is engaging in selective enforcement of the ordinances, pointing out that several other facilities, including motels, senior living organizations, apartment complexes, and others, operate without the sprinkler system the city is trying to impose on Dad’s Place.
The interest seems to be that the city is upset that people sleep on the first floor of Dad’s Place Church without any fire suppression system,” Dys noted. “Well, where else do we see that happening in Bryan, Ohio? We see that happening at motels. There are three of them in Bryan, and all of them are one-story buildings, and none of them have fire suppression systems built within that.
When the lawyer questioned the fire chief about this discrepancy, the official acknowledged that the other facilities were exempted from the ordinance because they were “grandfathered in.”
“When asked about that, the fire chief says, ‘Well, we make economic considerations when that’s the case. Those are grandfathered. They don’t have to put in a fire suppression system,’” Dys said.
The attorney indicated that the chief’s admission betrayed a level of hypocrisy on the part of the city government.
Either you are concerned about the health and safety of your residents, or you are not. You cannot say, ‘Well, apartments, senior living facilities, and motels, no problem. But churches, well, churches are a problem.’
The attorney further suggested that city officials are not motivated by a concern over fire safety but by a desire to drive the church out of downtown Bryan. “They view this church as a smudge on the character and the beauty of Bryan, Ohio, and they want to erase it as soon as they possibly can,” he said.
Dys compared the city’s treatment of Dad’s Place to government overreach against other churches during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This brings us back to memories of COVID when we would say churches are super spreader events…but liquor stores, casinos, Walmart, Home Depot—those can all be open,” he remarked.
When Dys asked the fire chief about another facility that did not have to install a sprinkler system, the official justified it by noting that “there’s two means of egress.”
“I actually asked the fire chief about that, and he said this with a straight face. Well, he said, ‘There’s two means of egress.’ I said, ‘Well, you mean the stairs going outside? There’s a rickety narrow staircase?’ ‘Yeah, that’s one,’ he says. ‘What if that’s blocked?’ I asked. He says, ‘Well, they have a secondary means of egress.’ ‘What’s that?’ ‘They can jump out the window.’”
Dys ridiculed the fire chief’s argument, pointing out that the city apparently believes leaping out of a second-story window is a safer fire escape plan than sleeping on the first floor of Dad’s Place church.
The matter has caught the attention of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who filed an amicus brief with the court as Avell seeks his appeal. He stated that the city’s implementation of its fire codes violates the state constitution’s protections of religious liberty.
“The City sought to burden the Church’s ministry, so the Church asserted its religious-liberty rights under both the Ohio and federal constitutions,” Yost’s brief states. He contended that, “Applying Ohio’s proper test—strict scrutiny—the Church should prevail, and the preliminary injunction against the Church should be reversed.”
Dad’s Place has appealed the ruling, and the case is now in the hands of the Ohio Court of Appeals. If the appeal fails, Avell could be forced to shut down the church’s overnight shelter or face further legal consequences, including jail time.
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