Homeless face eviction from church property
While presbytery faces public relations problem
By Carmen Fowler, The Layman, February 16, 2011
In January, 2011, Stockton Presbytery declared Sierra Presbyterian Church (SPC) in Merced, Calif., no longer viable, dissolved it and took over its property. Surprisingly, although the church had no parishioners, the property was populated. A group of homeless people has been living there since October 2010, and they have no plans to move.
Sierra Saving Grace Homeless Ministry
Last year the city of Merced, facing public demand that the homeless population be relocated from a mixture of public and private lands along a creek, developed a facility called the D Street Shelter. When D Street opened, its intended residents were informed that alcohol and drug use would be prohibited, they must abide by late night curfews, and if they have medical and mental issues, they must take their medications and receive appropriate counseling.
Several of Merced’s homeless said “no” to D Street, and on the day Merced’s shelter opened, they accepted an invitation to move rent-free onto the grounds of Sierra Presbyterian Church. A non-profit group called Sierra Saving Grace Homeless Ministry which at that time was indistinguishable from the session of the church issued the invitation.
By dissolving the session and claiming the church property, Stockton Presbytery became more than a land owner; it became a de facto landlord as well.
Stockton Presbytery
Stockton Presbytery asserted original jurisdiction over the church in January 2011 following the report of an Administrative Commission that said the session had abandoned its duties. According to one presbyter, the six people who called themselves the session expressed no interest in having a pastor, no interest in meeting for worship and had discarded all the outward trappings of being an institutional church. The synod confirmed that the presbytery’s actions were in order.
The presbytery now finds itself doubly challenged. It must deal with the Sierra Saving Grace Homeless Ministry, a free standing non-profit organization that holds a contract signed by its former self, the session of Sierra Presbyterian Church. Secondly, it must deal with a homeless group of people that has been living in tents on its property with no sanitation for months. That group’s members now have an attorney arguing on their behalf that they are legal tenants of the property and that the Stockton Presbytery has responsibilities to them as a landlord.
On behalf of the PCUSA constitution, the presbytery had successfully argued that it bears sole responsibility for the property. Then it faced an eight page notice of abatement from the city with orders to have everything cleaned up by 5 p.m., Friday, February 11. Suffice it to say, that did not happen.
Presbytery as absentee landlord
On February 3, the presbytery’s stated clerk, Keith Drury, introduced himself to the people living in squalor around the SPC building. He notified them that they must leave and reminded them that ample space is available at the D Street shelter. He then posted “No Trespassing” signs around the property.
No one from the Sierra homeless ministry came to help. Instead, they notified the presbytery of their intent to enforce the contract they wrote with themselves when they were both church session and non-profit organization. They say the contract protects the homeless people’s continued use of the property, and that as landlord, the presbytery is required to clean up the mess.
Both the presbytery and the homeless now have attorneys. The property is ringed with signs that read “No trespassing” and the yard remains filled with “tenants” who are determined not to move.
Keith Drury told the Layman that while his presbytery has a genuine concern for the homeless, there is a limit to the length to which the presbytery can go. Stockton’s new asset has brought major liabilities.