More charges filed against Bryan pastor

BRYAN — Pastor Chris Avell of Dad’s Place again faces criminal charges with a Friday filing by the city of Bryan.

Attorneys for the downtown church maintain the action disregards a previous court order.

The charges stem from Fire Chief Doug Pool filing two recent violations related to zoning regulations and the lack of an automatic sprinkler system installed in a sleeping area after an alleged unannounced inspection at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Jeremy Dys, an attorney with First Liberty Institute representing Mr. Avell, said Friday that the church had never before heard about the sprinkler concern.

The church also made efforts to resolve all previous code violations, Mr. Dys said, such as updating the fire extinguishers and removing the oven, washer, and dryer.

Dad’s Place faces a fine of $1,000 per day if it doesn’t end its 24-hour ministry by May 1, documents state.

Attorneys representing Mr. Avell filed a motion Thursday, following a Zoom conference with Magistrate Judge Darrell Clay and city officials, to show cause against Bryan or to place a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the city.

Mr. Avell began receiving pushback in November from city officials about his 24-hour ministry, which allowed people, many of them unhoused, to come into the church at all hours. Dad’s Place responded with a Jan. 22 federal lawsuit against the city.

The U.S. District Court on Jan. 24 forbade the city from enforcing any code violations without court approval or church agreement and ordered it to schedule a conference if the city felt there was an urgent safety issue — all of which Mr. Avell’s attorneys say the city failed to do.

The city in February agreed to drop all 18 earlier charges that addressed zoning and fire code violations, while Dad’s Place agreed to “cease residential operations” and to seek proper building permits. The church disputes that its ministry is residential, so it has continued to remain a temporary shelter.

Bryan Mayor Carrie Schlade said in a statement that the most recent charges were made in the interest of the safety of people in the church, renters above it, and adjacent businesses.

“This is not some bureaucratic dispute between Dad’s Place and the city. This is a very dangerous situation for the people that Dad’s Place has invited to stay overnight,” Mayor Schlade wrote. “We appreciate that Dad’s Place has tried to help people in need … but putting people’s lives at risk in the case of a fire or from other dangers is not helping them.”

Mr. Dys argued that the city’s actions may have contributed to the death of a congregant. Jamy Shaffer died following an April 12 seizure while alone in an apartment that Dad’s Place moved him to, “fearing retribution by the city,” the motion states.

The motion goes on to state that had Mr. Shaffer not been moved he “would have been at the church on the night he passed and would have been able to obtain live-saving medical treatment because of the presence of other congregants.”

“For all the talk that the city has about protecting the health and safety of the people in that church is their actions of pushing people out of a place of safety, the church, into a place of isolation where now someone has died,” Mr. Dys said. “So Mayor Schlade, in addition to wanting this pastor in jail, now has a body count to deal with.”

Mayor Schlade’s statement notes “dangers” at Dad’s Place, including the indictment of a man for sexual misconduct with a minor that allegedly took place at the church and a registered sex offender telling Bryan police that he “‘lives’ in the back of Dad’s Place.”

“The only reason the mayor even knows about that alleged crime is because the pastor confronted the person accused and went with him to the police station to turn himself in,” Mr. Dys said. “I would hope that the mayor would not try to use these tragic circumstances to further denigrate the good work of Pastor Avell and Dad's Place.”

Thursday’s motion states the church has a pending occupancy application with the state to operate its 24-hour ministry.

The attorney said that the parties would meet again via Zoom on Monday.