By Jim Coggins

The City of Vancouver has formally recognized that churches have a tradition of helping the poor, and thus do not need to meet municipal requirements for permits to do so.

This apparently brings to an end a long-standing dispute that started in 2004 when city planning staff ordered Tenth Avenue Church to apply for a social services permit to provide food and shelter to the homeless.

The church applied for the permit, but discussions with City staff dragged on. Things finally changed last summer, when Bill Chu organized Faith Communities Called to Solidarity with the Poor. When Chu’s group asked to speak to City Council in September, Mayor Sam Sullivan’s majority NPA party voted to ask city staff to prepare a report.

On March 21, Sullivan announced he had accepted in principle that churches should not have to apply for social services permits, and would recommend that to City Council.

The  motion was to be voted on May 13; but city staff also presented their report to Council that day; so the matter was postponed till May 15 to allow for input by Christian ministries.

Council unanimously passed a motion May 15, accepting that “provision of services to marginalized people is a service customarily provided by faith communities, and . . . will not require special land use permits.”

However, before passing the motion, Council amended it to include references to an Administrative Bulletin, based on the staff report, that will be used to guide city staff in implementing the new policy.

The bulletin includes several qualifications of the general principle:

• Programs should be fully contained within church buildings, and “external line-ups and activities will generally not be favoured.”

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• If churches add new programs, it will be the churches’ responsibility to ensure they are in compliance with by-law requirements, fire code regulations and provincial health regulations, which may require special inspections prior to commencing a program.

• If the programs result in concerns from the surrounding community, then the city will ask the church to meet with community representatives to seek a resolution.

• In the case of new churches, any social services they propose to offer will be considered when City Hall decides whether to grant approval of their application for a building permit.

In the case of Tenth Avenue Church, senior associate pastor Mardi Dolfo-Smith told Council that the church would abide by the Good Neighbour Agreement it has worked out with its community even though it will not be required to complete its application for a social services permit.

Abbotsford outreach

In a related story, pastor Christoph Reiners of Peace Lutheran Church, and several volunteers, have been feeding down-and-out people at Jubilee Park every Thursday.

According to the National Post, the president of the Downtown Business Association, Robert Bos, claims: “More drug dealers are being attracted to the park because there are more addicts . . . as a result of these groups giving them free food and clothes.”

“The breakfast we help provide is just a simple act of kindness, a way to reach out to people who need help,” Reiners said.

According to the Post, Reiners was asked by some city councillors to stop the outreach; at press time, the initiative was continuing.

June 2008