St. Paul’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in downtown Ocean City says it will fight the city’s order to shutter a homeless shelter it has created in its assembly hall.
On May 8, the Town of Ocean City, through its planning and community development director, George Bendler, sent a notice to St. Paul’s ordering it to cease operations at its homeless shelter by June 8 or face municipal infractions for operating barracks-style living quarters in a zoning district where it is not permitted.
Now, the church is firing back with a message of its own: it has no intention of turning the homeless away from its doors.
“We’re a church, we’re supposed to shelter people,” Pastor Jill Williams said, “because that’s the typical and expected mission of a church – to feed people, to shelter people, to help people.”
On March 31, St. Paul’s began moving occupants of an outdoor homeless encampment it had erected on church grounds into its facilities. The indoor shelter opened just hours ahead of a city-imposed deadline to have the church remove the tents – which according to city code is a zoning violation – or face a fine of up to $5,000 per day.