When you cross the Route 50 Bridge, a sign reads, “Ocean City, Maryland Welcomes You.” Inside St. Paul’s-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, the rector says that welcome does not extend to the people who sleep in her parish hall each night.
The church and the town are now in a federal lawsuit over an overnight shelter operating inside the parish hall across from City Hall. The church filed a lawsuit against Ocean City, arguing the town’s actions against the shelter violate the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Ocean City responded with a counterclaim seeking an injunction to close the shelter, arguing the operation does not comply with local zoning requirements.
Town officials say the dispute is not about providing services to people experiencing homelessness, but about how the shelter is operating. The church said it is carrying out its religious mission to help people in need.
During a tour of the church’s outreach center, the Rev. Jill Williams told 海角精品黑料 the church serves about 120 lunches each day during the summer season and averages “between 30 and 35 people in the evening as guests for the shelter.”
Williams said the shelter began operating after the town told the church to remove tents used by unhoused people from its property and move people indoors.
“They told us from the beginning that this place needs to look like Disneyland. That’s a quote. They would like all the homeless people off the island. That is the goal of the mayor and city council,” Williams said.
In a phone interview, Ocean City Town Manager Terry McGean told 海角精品黑料 that Williams’ characterization of that conversation was not accurate.
“What I said was that some people thought Ocean City was Disneyland, but I knew that was not the case. That we were a city with all the intended issues and responsibilities, and that we were not some amusement park,” he said.
“I guess the way she puts it is a better sound bite, but it certainly takes what I said well out of context,” he said.
Williams also said McGean told her to rely on wealthy parishioners to influence city leaders.
“He instructed me to figure out who my wealthy parishioners were, who were the wealthy business owners in Ocean City, and have them call the mayor and city council if I wanted anything done, because that’s how things are done here in Ocean City. That was a direct quote,” she said.
McGean disputes that account, saying he never mentioned wealthy parishioners or suggested that was how approvals are obtained.
“I said it’s always good to have any member of her congregation, if they knew council members, to educate them on what the church wants to do,” McGean said, adding that he would give the same advice to any nonprofit seeking town funding.
Williams said the church has also faced difficulties installing a washer and dryer, saying plumbers have repeatedly withdrawn after beginning the permit process. She said the machines are needed for altar cloths, kitchen towels and cleaning supplies.
McGean said the electrical permit was approved, but the plumbing permit application did not meet code because the proposed drain line was too small. He said the town would approve a code-compliant application if one is submitted.
McGean said Ocean City supports homeless services through Diakonia in West Ocean City and the Worcester County Homeless Outreach Team.
“We are simply enforcing the law that we have had on the books for many, many, many years, and we enforce it equally,” he said.
When asked what she would tell the mayor and council, Williams said she wants them to understand the people who sleep in her parish hall and hear their stories, including “some who work for the town of Ocean City.”
“Understand the miracles that are happening here,” Williams said. “This is the mission of the followers of Jesus Christ for all time and that we’re not going to stop.”
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