The Word From a Warehouse

There are no golden chalices or holy statues in the Praise Christian Center chapel.

The walls are unfinished, nearly colorless. Rows of garden benches and plastic patio chairs substitute for pews. And instead of a cross, a large Shell Oil logo is affixed to the front of the building--left behind by a previous landowner.

The church sits inside a 1920s-era warehouse, a tin structure tucked in a corner of what was once an oil field. The land is now owned by a landscape-supply company.

Trouble is, Huntington Beach officials say, the little church is illegal.

A few days before Christmas, the Rev. Derek Anunciation was told he could no longer hold services in the converted warehouse until he obtained various permits and had fire marshals inspect lights and ceiling fans. The 34-year-old pastor said it would cost him thousands of dollars he doesn’t have to get the permits.

So Anunciation moved his pulpit--actually a red decorative bridge with the price tag still dangling from one end--and his congregation into a gravel courtyard outside the warehouse.

But as his outdoor Sunday services continue, a small battle between church and state is brewing.

City officials say Anunciation must follow the law and that the needed inspections and improvements are basic safety measures. The pastor, though, sees it differently.

“You have to pay to pray in the city of Huntington Beach,” Anunciation said.

Anunciation’s 80-member congregation moved into the warehouse--previously used for storage by the landscape company--in June. Before that, the congregation gathered at a Beach Boulevard storefront. They moved there after even more humble beginnings at the Edison Community Center, where, in 1998, Anunciation first held Sunday services and weekly Bible study sessions for his congregation of mostly young families.

When Ron Brindle, owner of American Landscape Supply, offered to let the congregation use one of his warehouses, Anunciation thought he’d found a home. Brindle had seen the pastor on his weekly cable show, “God’s Way,” and took a liking to the young clergyman.

“Here’s this guy. He doesn’t know where his next dollar’s coming from, and he’s paying $1,800 a month to rent this storefront,” Brindle said. “So I got to thinking, I’ve got this old building and a new little parking lot out there. Why not let him use that?”

Brindle isn’t charging Anunciation rent, but the pastor agreed to pay Brindle $200 a week “for maintenance.”

Brindle said he suspects City Hall would be happier if he moved his landscaping business elsewhere and built homes on his property, which is now zoned for residential use. The property is two miles from the beaches and sits near some of the town’s most expensive homes.

“I’m sitting on $20 million worth of property,” Brindle said. “They’d rather have million-dollar homes.”

City officials say Anunciation must apply for a conditional use permit since the land isn’t zoned for church use. If he does seek such a permit--and Anunciation said he intends to--the city’s Planning Commission must hold a public hearing.

If the pastor gets the permit, he must make improvements before he can lead his flock back indoors. For starters, city officials say, he must replace two portable toilets behind the warehouse with permanent ones. He must make the facility accessible to the disabled. And the improvements he already made--new lighting, doors and other structural changes--must be inspected and approved.

Follow the Rules or Challenge Them?

“He’s going to have to make some extensive modifications,” Huntington Beach Fire Marshal Chuck Burney said. “I’m sure it seems monumental when you look at the building the way it is now. But whenever you try to convert something like that into a building for a use that’s more demanding, there are a number of changes that are going to have to be made.”

Ross Cranmer, the city’s building and safety director, said the warehouse was fine when used for storage, but is not acceptable as a meeting house.

Although Anunciation plans to file for his permits, he’s also contemplating falling back on a federal law, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. The statute prohibits local governments from creating a substantial burden on churches without proving a “compelling state interest,” said Brad Dacus, an attorney with the Pacific Justice Institute, an organization that defends religious rights and other civil liberties.

“Whenever a local government tells a church they can no longer meet in a building they’ve been occupying, that is always going to qualify as a substantial burden,” said Dacus, who has been offering advice to Anunciation.

“It’s highly suspect that the city would suddenly find health and safety concerns with this building only after it was made available to be used as a church,” Dacus said. “These kinds of intimidating practices are counterproductive to religious tolerance.”

City officials deny singling out Anunciation.

“Any other type of use for that building would have to go through the same process,” Burney said.

Anunciation said he will abide by the city wishes and remain outside his makeshift chapel, leading services under a portable canopy with parishioners seated on iron garden chairs and musicians playing from a decorative bridge, identical to the one where the minister stands.

“We’re having tent revival meetings in 2002,” he said.