Set Free Church Members Fight Eviction Notice

More than 500 members of a controversial church protested peacefully on the steps of City Hall Monday, saying they will fight attempts to evict them from the city-owned building where the church holds children’s services and community outreach programs.

Displaying placards, flags and six-foot crucifixes, members and friends of the Set Free Christian Fellowship claimed that Mayor Tom Daly, Councilman Irv Pickler and other city officials are “discriminating” against Christians by ordering them to vacate the former Anaheim Baptist Church by May 10.

The city, which has already built several office buildings, stores and restaurants in the area, plans to build a Boys and Girls Club, a gymnasium and a community center on the site. It is across the street from City Hall.

“Why do (city officials) want us out but (recently) approve the opening of a British pub right down the street so that people can get drunk and come right back out here onto the streets?” asked church spokeswoman Lois Trader.

Daly, Pickler and other officials said Set Free was told when it rented the church in 1990 that it could stay only until the construction plans for the new buildings were completed. A lease agreement signed by the Rev. Phil Aguilar, the church’s leader and founder, allows the city to evict the group with 90 days’ notice.

Daly and Pickler say that they have nothing against the church or its members but that the city needs to move forward with its development plans.

“They are a group that does not like to play by the rules,” Daly said. “They have a tendency to lash out at City Hall or anyone else who is not doing exactly what they want.”

Set Free has used the church for children’s services and for community outreach programs, but the city earlier this month blocked a main Sunday service there, saying a recent test showed that the building was no longer earthquake safe.

For years, the group had held services at a privately owned building five blocks away. But last October it was evicted after the city said it was violating several building and fire codes. Recently it has held some services at city-owned Glover Stadium, while directing some members to the group’s other congregations in neighboring cities.

The 10-year-old church has had a controversial past in part because many of its 4,000 members are former convicts and drug addicts. Some, including Aguilar, dress “biker-style,” driving Harley Davidson motorcycles, wearing leather jackets and sporting long-hair, beards and tattoos.

The church has also been criticized by some former members and others as a “cult.” Some former members have accused Aguilar of ordering members to give all of their possessions to the church and sever ties with relatives who are not church members.

The charges against Aguilar are false, say supporters, who contend that critics should look beyond the members’ appearance.

“They are good people,” said Rabbi Haim Asa of Temple Beth Tikvah in Fullerton. After an arsonist tried to burn down his synagogue five years ago, Set Free members stood guard on the property until he felt the danger had passed, Asa said.

Councilman Fred Hunter, Set Free’s most ardent supporter on the council, said he is upset because the city intends to build the community center with a $1.5-million insurance payment it recently received because of a fire at a city-owned warehouse.

“(Daly and Pickler) want to use taxpayers’ money to do good deeds when this group does good deeds without taxpayers’ money,” Hunter said.

Pickler, who has said that the members’ appearance is a detriment to nearby businesses, said the church needs to find a permanent facility elsewhere and not depend on the city to supply it with a meeting place.