Mayor To Exempt Faith Groups From Seeking Permits

During my year in Vancouver the government attempted to require churches and other faith groups to apply for a social service permit in order to help the poor. Some good friends of ours at Tenth Avenue Alliance Church were the first to stand up against this policy, stating that providing for the needs of the poor and vulnerable is at the heart of what it means to be Christian. A Christian lawyer who attends Grandview Calvary Baptist Church (which all of us on the Servants Vancouver team attend) offered to help organize and lead a coalition of faith-based groups in an effort to change the governments policy. Below is an article I received today that tells the of Vancouver's mayor's support:

JUSTINE HUNTER
The Globe and Mail
Saturday, March 22, 2008

Religious groups should not have to beg city hall for permission to offer succour to Vancouver's poor, Mayor Sam Sullivan said yesterday.

His comments mark a policy change after a lengthy battle that pitted city hall against a wide array of faith-based organizations.

Mr. Sullivan announced his new position outside Holy Rosary Cathedral, where he attended a Good Friday service. He said he wants to exempt faith organizations from a controversial permit process that threatened charity services aimed at the city's most disadvantaged.

"It seems counterproductive that we would ask the faith communities to take out a permit simply to do good works in the community," he said in an interview yesterday.

The conflict started six months ago, when the Tenth Avenue Alliance Church found itself entangled in bureaucracy over its soup kitchen.

Facing pressure from neighbours upset about homeless people lining up outside the church, city hall ordered the church to take out a "social service use" permit that carried stringent requirements.

It was the first attempt by bureaucrats to regulate soup kitchens and shelters offered by the city's churches, temples, mosques and synagogues, and it sparked outrage among religious leaders who argued the city was interfering with their missions to comfort the poor.

To win approval for a licence, Tenth Avenue church officials were told they would have to hire guards to patrol lineups, and collect identifying information from the homeless who came to them.

An alliance of faith groups - with Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leadership - organized to support the Tenth Avenue church, warning that their programs for the poor could be threatened next.

Mr. Sullivan said he was shocked to learn of the permit demands."I was taken aback that we would require a permit," he said. "I also understand there are many guidelines and rules put in place to try to negotiate the conflicts between neighbours and I certainly understand the rationale behind it, but in my mind it really doesn't belong in a community where we are focused on doing everything we can to help those in need."

The mayor, who is running for re-election later this year, invited media to hear his response to the issue on the steps of the church. He later described himself as an occasional churchgoer who attends Good Friday services every year at a different church.

Next week he will table a motion, expected to go to city council in April, that would effectively exempt religious-based social services from the city's licence requirements.

The motion would instruct city staff to waive special land use permits for service programs attached to places of worship, other than those required to ensure adequate fire and life safety provisions.

Ken Shigematsu, senior pastor of the Tenth Avenue Alliance Church, could not be reached for comment yesterday but issued a statement applauding Mr. Sullivan's intervention.

"Older than the church itself, there has been a sacred mission to care for the poor. I am grateful that Mayor Sullivan has recognized this fact, that when churches are unencumbered by unnecessary outside regulations, we have the freedom to best serve the whole community," he said.