Pastor Avoids Charges Over Homeless

A minister sidestepped criminal charges Tuesday over allowing homeless people to sleep on church grounds after he pledged to build a shelter.

Wiley S. Drake, 52, who faced up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for violating city codes, was given two weeks to find an architect and start moving on blueprints for a shelter at the First Southern Baptist Church.

“Assuming Rev. Drake works with due diligence, we’re going to back off,” Assistant City Prosecutor Gregory P. Palmer said.

Drake said he was happy with the agreement but must find an architect or structural engineer willing to donate services, because the church does not have the money to build a shelter. “We would honestly rather put people in a building than in automobiles,” Drake said.

He had argued that he is ministering to the homeless as part of a religious mission, which is protected by the 1st Amendment.

Those who come to him for help must seek work and refrain from drugs, drink, smoking and profanity while on the grounds, he said. They may use the bathrooms and showers in the church, and join in meals and prayer sessions. But Drake insists they sleep outside so they do not get “too comfortable” being homeless.

Palmer said the issue is one of zoning. Drake would be allowed to minister to the homeless if he followed the local laws and built a city-approved structure for that purpose, he said.