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Dear John,
In Bryan, Ohio, you can feel the danger in the air.
It’s not from the cold front that’s blowing in. The danger stems from the city’s leaders that are trying to force the most vulnerable at Dad’s Place out onto the freezing streets.
Dad’s Place is more than a small church near downtown Bryan. As one of the only places where needy people can go to get out of the cold at night, Dad’s Place is a safe haven...a refuge from the cold.
But for more than a year, local officials in the city of Bryan have been waging war on the small church, its pastor and the people they minister to.
Dad’s Place pastor Chris Avell has been threatened with jail time simply because he wants to put his faith into practice and help the needy.
Learn more about the dangerous situation from Pastor Chris and First Liberty’s Hiram Sasser.
Last week, a judge accepted the city’s argument and ruled that it’s actually safer for people to be out on the freezing streets than to be inside away from the cold at Dad’s Place.
The judge’s order would have forced Pastor Chris to remove everyone seeking temporary shelter in the church.
Thankfully, with the help of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s friend of the court brief, we won a stay from the Ohio Court of Appeals that is preventing the Bryan judge’s order from being enforced.
However, depending on how the Ohio Court of Appeals rules, the stay could be lifted as early as Thursday allowing the City of Bryan to clear out Dad’s Place.
That’s why we are turning up the heat on the Bryan officials. But to get them to stop harassing Pastor Chris and Dad’s Place, we need your help.
Here are three things you can do right now:
- Pray for Pastor Chris and for his church congregation. Pray for perseverance throughout the trials they are facing.
- Sign this petition to KEEP THE HEAT ON local city officials so they will stop harassing this small church and its devoted pastor. You can sign it here.
- Help raise awareness of this church’s plight by posting a supportive message on social media and sharing the petition with your friends and family.
Together we can fight back and stop this criminalization of compassion.
Will you join Pastor Avell and help put a stop to the attacks against him and his church?
Yes, I will join the fight today!
Grateful for you,
Kelly
Kelly Shackelford, Esq.
President, CEO & Chief Counsel
First Liberty Institute
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