The city recounted the efforts of its fire chief to correct some of these problems and the alleged repeated failure of Dad’s Place to address them, including that the fire chief discovered a gas leak on Jan. 16, 2024.
The city further maintained that its highest priority was the safety of the people staying at Dad’s Place and that it had attempted to work with the church and social services in the area to provide shelter for the people staying at the church.
On Jan. 22, 2024, First Liberty and two law firms filed a federal lawsuit and motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the City of Bryan and its officials.
First Liberty has said that Schlade and the City of Bryan have been antagonistic toward Avell and have refused to work with the pastor. “Mayor Carrie Schlade also refused to meet with Pastor Chris to even discuss the charges, which her office was helping to oversee,” said First Liberty of the events that transpired in the fall of 2023. “Then, on the Sunday morning of New Year’s Eve, the police abruptly showed up at the church to issue the criminal charges for keeping his church open and daring to care for the homeless in the frigid winter.”
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In February 2024, the city agreed to drop its criminal charges, and Pastor Avell and Dad’s Place “agreed to cease residential operations and to seek proper building certifications, and zoning permits for the operations it plans to pursue together with the installation of any necessary safety measures associated with those permits,” according to First Liberty.
The matter seemed resolved at that point.
However, on April 24, 2024, city officials inspected Dad’s Place and found that people were staying the night at the church and that the facility was still not up to city safety codes. The city subsequently filed criminal charges on April 26, 2024.
In a press release issued April 26, 2024, the city cited safety concerns beyond fire codes, stating there was a registered sex offender who told police he lives behind Dad’s Place, as well as a man who was indicted by a grand jury for alleged crimes against a minor that supposedly occurred at Dad’s Place in 2023.
Mayor Carrie Schlade has said there have been threats to her life and her children as a result of the legal battle with the church. “Chris Avell and his attorneys have managed to turn issues of safety and complying with laws designed to keep people safe into a publicity seeking crusade about religious freedom,” said Schlade. “That’s not the reality. We have no interest in restricting anyone’s religious freedom. Here’s what I and the City of Bryan care deeply about: That the people using Dad’s Place church are safe and have all the protections afforded them by the law.”
The legal back and forth between Dad’s Place and the City of Bryan continued during 2024 with various appeals, injunctions, and stays of ruling. Avell’s criminal trial took place on Dec. 3.
