Street Church
speaks out
by John Syratt
On January 1st, 2007 a man prayed with people from Calgary’s Street
Church to accept Christ. He asked to be baptized immediately in the
Bow River. Baptisms in the Bow are a fairly common occurrence for
the ministry that preaches to the homeless in the downtown park.
The spot they use is
in knee-high shallow water close to the bank of the river. They were
in and out of the water in less than a minute. No one was at risk
but someone called to complain. Moments later the group was swarmed
by the city’s aquatic rescue unit complete with power boat and
suited divers, firefighters, a police cruiser with two officers and
an ambulance with fully staffed paramedics.
This may seem like a
random encounter, but not for the leaders of the Street Church.
They’ve been running headfirst into challenges with police and
by-law officials since they started their ministry four years ago.
Street Church is
presently facing a court battle with the city over the revoking of
the group’s 2007 permit to continue holding its outdoor services in
Triangle Park across from the Calgary Drop-In Centre by the Bow
River.
"On February 5th, a
judge will decide if this is a violation of our civil rights," said
Art Pawlowski, pastor of the church.
When the group
started preaching with the assistance of a PA system that’s when the
ongoing trouble began.
"We’re feeding
thousands of people a month," Pawlowski noted. "We supply clothes
and other things. We work with different churches and housing
projects. We take people from the streets to those housing projects.
So far we’ve helped hundreds get off the street. Now it seems like
there is a witch hunt against us."
Two homosexuals came
to the Street Church leaders and told them they didn’t like them and
promised to make life difficult for the church. "They said they were
going to phone the officials every time they saw us from their
apartment on the other side of the river," Pawlowski said.
"They said to me, ‘we
will drive the officials crazy until they kick you out.’
Since that moment,
almost every time we are there we have by-law officers, police or
detectives recording our messages and taking our pictures."
"This is not only a
fight for the Gospel, which is our primary focus, this is a fight
for democracy in this country as well," the street preacher
observed. "If they will take away your freedom of speech, your
freedom of religion and freedom of assembly there goes your
democracy. You’re living under a dictatorship; under a regime; under
a police government."
Lawyer Gerald Chipeur
told the Calgary Herald that the decision by the city goes to the
very heart of the church’s ability to communicate. "This is
outrageous. It’s an abuse of power by the city," he said.
Chipeur has
participated as an advocate in some of the Supreme Court of Canada’s
most important constitutional and human rights appeals including
lending his support to Rev. Stephen Boissoin during his hearing
before the Alberta Human Rights Commission for publicly sharing his
views on the gay agenda.
Chipeur’s firm is
representing the Street Church ministry.
Pawlowski has also
made an appearance in court after being arrested for reading his
Bible out loud in a park near a New Age festival last year. That
case is still awaiting trial.
This street preacher
isn’t afraid of the confrontation he’s been encountering.
He’s not looking for
it, but he’s not backing down from it either. He has a firm belief
that he is called to preach the Good News about Jesus Christ and has
a civil right to do so.
His style of ministry
has already ruffled a bunch of feathers in Calgary but he’s not
about to go away.
Street Church's website:
www.streetchurch.ca
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