Missiongathering Church Launches GoFundMe To Help Save The Irenic
A GoFundMe launched by Missiongathering Christian Church is hoping to raise over $15,000 to cover legal expenses and violation repairs so that the church, homeless shelter and sanctuary rental, “The Irenic” can be permitted to continue offering its services to the community.
The campaign can be found through this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-irenic-amp-youth-homeless-shelter.
GoFundMe: Save The Irenic & Youth Homeless Shelter Campaign description
On August 31, 2019, The City of San Diego ordered Missiongathering Christian Church to cease operations of our homeless youth shelter and our sanctuary rentals called “The Irenic”. We were cited with 29 fairly minor violations of the City Code, most of which we are actively working to correct immediately.
However, The City has said that our sanctuary rentals has transitioned us from “Church Zoning” to “Music Venue/Nightclub Zoning” and ordered us to cease renting our sanctuary until we have proper zoning and licenses. The also have stated that our youth shelter- the only one in the City of San Diego- must apply for a conditional use permit because the Code says churches can only host shelters 30 times a year without a permit, and we host our shelter 50. A CUP could cost an upwards of $20,000 just to cover the 20 extra nights per year that we provide a safe space for homeless youth.
The survival of Missiongathering at our current campus hangs in the balance. The City’s swift and unfair actions have already resulted in staff layoffs and may force us to cease operations at our campus before the end of the year.
We believe we have a solid legal case against The City for violating our religious rights to exercise our faith and use our property in ways that are beneficial to our ministry and the community at large.
We’re seeking to raise $15,000 to help us cover the initial legal expenses we will incur from hiring a lawyer to work on this case, to begin working on some of the larger violation repairs of the campus, and to assist us in paying for the reinspections and permits the City is requiring us to obtain as stated in our violation notice.
Every dollar helps us in this battle for the survival of our homeless youth shelter, our Irenic concert ministry, and the faith progressive, inclusive, faith community called Missiongathering.
