The leadership of Ocean City, Maryland, has filed a countersuit against a local church in an ongoing legal battle over whether the congregation can operate a barracks-style homeless shelter.
The mayor and city council filed an answer and counterclaim against St. Paul’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church on July 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, in response to a lawsuit the church filed last month.
The church’s legal clashes with Ocean City date back to February, when the town gave St. Paul’s an April 1 deadline to stop letting homeless people sleep in tents on church property or face daily fines.
The church beat that deadline by a day, opening an indoor overnight ministry called “The Shelter By-the-Sea” on March 31, operating nightly from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Between 25 and 39 people sleep there on a given night, according to the Rev. Jill Williams, the church’s rector.
The city began issuing $1,000-per-day citations against Williams and the church’s senior warden, Dan Harris, starting June 8, alleging the shelter violated local zoning code. Neither has paid, and the shelter has remained open; by the time the church sued Ocean City on June 16, the fines had accumulated to roughly $18,000.
The city’s counterclaim maintains that Ocean City was not wrong to demand the shelter’s closure. It asks the court to “find and declare that the Ocean City zoning code” does not “impose a substantial burden on Counter-Defendants’ religious exercise,” and to declare that “the neutral and generally applicable Ocean City Code provisions at issue are constitutional.”
The city is also seeking “a permanent injunction, enjoining Counter-Defendants from and against continuing to operate the subject housing shelter on the Church’s property, or any other housing shelter on such property that is not expressly permitted by Ocean City.”
The Rev. Jill Williams, rector at St. Paul’s By-the-Sea, told Episcopal News Service that she was “not surprised” by the countersuit, claiming that the city was “playing with people’s lives.”
“[City officials] had the choice to just back off, and they chose to double down and completely try to categorize this as only a zoning issue while ignoring the fact that it’s a mission and a religious freedom issue,” Williams said.
Williams also told ENS that she believes city officials were being influenced by interests that want Ocean City to be a resort town, alleging that they were “just listening to the money.”
“They’re listening to the business owners and to the property condo owners — the people that financially control this city,” Williams added. “We need to prioritize taking care of people.”
Notably, Williams said Ocean City’s own fire marshal has inspected the shelter and found no violations. She added that Ocean City police officers and Worcester County Health Department officials have themselves brought people to stay overnight at the shelter, even as the city pursues its case to shut it down.
In March, St. Paul’s By-the-Sea drew backlash from Ocean City officials for letting homeless people set up an outdoor tent encampment on the church property, violating a local ordinance.
City Manager Terence McGean told The Christian Post at the time that officials “recognize the sensitivity of this situation and the complexity of supporting individuals experiencing homelessness.”
“While the tents currently on the property do not comply with existing zoning ordinances, Ocean City is committed to balancing compassion with compliance,” he said. “We respect the intent behind the church’s actions; however, the town cannot simply ignore ongoing violations of our laws.”
In response to the backlash, the church moved its homeless shelter indoors, hiring staff to operate it from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. local time every evening as a ministry called The Shelter by the Sea.
The Shelter by the Sea provides overnight beds and resources, such as affordable housing assistance and substance abuse programs for homeless guests.
In May, Ocean City officials issued multiple citations against St. Paul’s By-the-Sea, threatening to fine the church $1,000 each day, claiming that the shelter did not comply with zoning laws.
Last month, Williams told CP that her church was suing the city, saying that she and congregants “do not view this as a zoning issue,” but rather as “a matter of religious freedom and our ability to live out our faith.”
“Our shelter ministry is a direct expression of our understanding of the Gospel and Christ’s command in Matthew 25, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,’” Williams told CP.
“The church believes that federal protections, including the Free Exercise Clause of the United States Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), protect our ability to carry out this ministry. Because of that, legal action has become necessary.”
The church is represented by attorney Robin R. Cockey. Both the church’s original lawsuit and the city’s countersuit are now before the same federal court.
