By Jim Coggins

CHURCHES in Vancouver will be able to provide social services without seeking a permit to do so, under a motion presented to city council April 1. But the situation at Tenth Avenue Alliance Church, which has spent the past few years fighting for its right to minister to the poor without applying for the extra permit, is still not resolved, say activists close to the situation.

The motion was presented by Councillor B.C. Lee on behalf of Mayor Sam Sullivan. It acknowledges that “provision of services to marginalized people is a service customarily provided by faith communities” and that, when offered in a worship facility, “these services . . . will not require special land use permits, other than those required to ensure adequate fire and life safety provisions.”

Ken Shigematsu, senior pastor of Tenth Avenue, said he was “grateful” the city had apparently accepted the church’s argument that social ministry – such as soup kitchens and homeless shelters – is an inherent part of the work that churches do.

“Older than the church itself, there has been a sacred mission to care for the poor,” said Shigematsu. “I am grateful that Mayor Sullivan has recognized this fact, that when churches are unencumbered by unnecessary outside regulations, we have the freedom to best serve the whole community.”

Mardi Dolfo-Smith, senior associate pastor of Tenth Avenue, told BCCN the church was “very happy” the principle of church social ministry had been accepted. However, she said the mayor’s motion has not totally resolved the issue.

The problem surfaced a few years ago when Tenth Avenue applied for a building permit to expand its building. It was told it would also have to apply for a social services use permit for the food shelter programs it had been running for a decade.

Some neighbours objected to the programs on the grounds that they brought crime into the neighbourhood.

The church received conditional approval for the permit some time ago, but the church has not met all the conditions.

The church would rather not have to get the permit, but the city’s Planning Department would like to continue with the process. Negotiations are continuing and the church “will decide with the city how to move forward” – hopefully fairly soon, said Dolfo-Smith.

The issue made national headlines when Bill Chu, a member of Grandview Calvary Baptist Church, learned of the problem and formed Faith Communities Called to Solidarity with the Poor (FCCSP). Chu said he was not just concerned about the Tenth Avenue situation, but about the precedent which could be set for other churches.

Last August, FCCSP declared that social ministry is an integral part of a church’s mandate, and that churches should not be required to apply for a separate permit for this work.

FCCSP was concerned that the definition of churches as primarily worshipping rather than serving bodies would change the nature of the church. It was also concerned that the extra red tape would discourage churches from undertaking social ministries.

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Besides a broad range of Christians, the FCCSP includes Muslim, Jewish and Sikh representatives.

In September, Councillor Raymond Louie introduced a motion that FCCSP be allowed to address council on the issue.

However, the majority Non-Partisan Association (NPA) members on council amended the motion to ask city staff to first talk to the FCCSP and write a report before the matter came to council. Those meetings led to what Chu described as a “breakthrough” March 7 – the details of which now form the essence of Sullivan’s motion.

However, at a news conference March 31, Chu derided Sullivan’s motion, first announced at an informal news conference on Good Friday, as a “photo op” for the mayor’s re-election campaign. He suggested the mayor was just trying to take credit for a breakthrough achieved by city staff.

However, David Hurford, the mayor’s media relations officer, said that without the NPA-amended motion last fall, there would have been no meetings between city staff and the faith communities.

The mayor respects the political process, said Hurford, and there is no guarantee his motion will pass when council votes May 15 – though the NPA has a slim majority, and other councillors have expressed support.

Mary Clare Zak, director of social planning, led the city staff delegation in the meetings with the faith communities – and said the mayor’s resolution “supports what we’re doing.” She added the staff want to consult additional representatives of faith communities.

The staff will develop an “administrative bulletin” which, if eventually approved by council, would be used to guide staff decisions, said Zak.

This bulletin would recognize that religious groups have provided social services for centuries, and would allow churches to offer social services as an “ancillary use” of their buildings “as long as it is not disruptive to their communities.”

The backdrop of the whole issue, said Chu, is “the stark reality of the city’s exploding homeless population.”

FCCSP,  he added, is not just concerned with churches’ “freedom to serve the poor,” but also “the poor’s right to a just and compassionate civic government.”

On March 31, in addition to a petition signed by 2,623 people defending churches’ right to do social ministry, FCCSP presented “four concrete requests” for city council to consider in addressing homelessness.

They include measures to protect current housing for the poor, as well as the building of 3,200 new social housing units.

Zak said that “given the rates of poverty in Vancouver,” the city was relying on all its partners – businesses, social agencies and churches – to solve these problems.

May 2008