San Clemente : Open-Door Policy at Church Draws Protest

Residents around St. Clement’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, concerned about the church’s open-door policy to transients, are turning what was once a parish debate into a community issue.

Homeless people have been ntering the church’s unlocked doors for about four years to use wooden pews and bedrolls, but recent thefts of church property have stirred debate within the 150-member congregation. Some parishioners have demanded that the doors be locked at night.

Residents of the area--a diverse old neighborhood with a large park and an elementary school across from the church--have in the past two weeks criticized the church and its rector, the Rev. Robert Boyer, for opening a “midnight mission” near so many children. Monday night, about 70 residents and parishioners gathered at the church to discuss the problem.

“I hate to see this turned into a Santa Ana neighborhood,” said Robin Shaker, who lives near the church and whose two children attend St. Clement’s after school program. She said she had noticed men lingering in the park and knew of parents who would not let their children into the park because of reports of men exposing themselves. “The idea of opening this up to a mission . . . just shocks me to death,” she said.

A church member who lives in Mission Viejo said his neighborhood has no church offering shelter to transients but still has a problem with drug dealers and alcoholics in the park. “Closing the doors is not the answer,” Ron Beckett said.

“I don’t think people should be sleeping here, but I want to be able to come down here and feel in the presence of the Lord at any time of the day or night if I need to.”

At one point during the meeting, Shaker asked Boyer if a parish vote had been or would be taken on the open-door policy and what influence the neighborhood could have on the decision. Boyer answered that a vote “always ends up in a win-lose situation. I think all of us here want something more creative to happen.”

Another meeting--to which Boyer said he will invite the mayor and police officials--will be held at the church on Monday and will focus on specific proposals for services for the homeless.