Pastor Charged in Sheltering Homeless

Southern Baptist pastor the Rev. Wiley S. Drake pleaded not guilty Friday in Fullerton Municipal Court to nine misdemeanor charges that he is illegally sheltering homeless people on church property and refused to evict them from the grounds during court-arranged mediation efforts.

In a 25-minute meeting in chambers, North Orange County Municipal Judge Richard E. Behn suggested to Drake, his defense attorney, Jon Alexander, and to deputy city prosecutor Greg Palmer of Buena Park that they resolve their differences outside of court, and even volunteered to help find a mediator to help settle the matter.

Both sides agreed, but Drake said that if the arbitrator tells him he needs to remove the homeless from his church’s property, he won’t do it.

“We want to tell people about Jesus, feed the hungry and take care of the poor,” Drake said. “The city has said they don’t want that, so we’ll have to go to trial.”

About 30 homeless people sleep each night at the First Baptist Church in Buena Park, and hundreds gather weekly for giveaways of food and clothing.

The controversy over Drake’s offering shelter to the homeless began last summer, when neighbors complained to the city about transients in the neighborhood. The city charged Drake with violating an anti-camping ordinance for allowing people to sleep in cars in the church parking lot.

Drake said he answers to a “tougher boss” and that helping the poor is not only a 1st Amendment right, but his religious duty.

“We want to work with the city. But we will not cease being a church,” Drake said. “I am not going to make a man, his wife and his two kids, sleeping in the car, leave church property because they are violating a camping ordinance. I am not a policeman. I am a pastor.”

The city this week also denied Drake’s request to build a permanent shelter on church grounds because Drake had rejected several dozen of the city’s conditions. Prosecuting attorney Palmer said the city does not want to close the church’s shelter down, just make it safe.

“We’re not trying to take away his ministry. All we want is for him to make it legal,” Palmer said. “They’re interested in making sure people are saved and don’t burn in hell. All we are concerned with is that they don’t burn here on Earth from unsafe conditions.”

Judge Behn dismissed two storage violation charges against Drake because they were vague and set a pretrial hearing for March 17. If the matter is not resolved before then, a jury trial will follow on April 10.