| LOUISVILLE — Leaders of First Presbyterian Church in Pitman, NJ, are hoping for a more favorable ruling from the local zoning board when it meets next month to reconsider a request that the congregation be permitted to continue operating an ecumenical food pantry and counseling service in a church-owned house.
The Pitman zoning board rejected both uses last year after some neighbors of the church raised concerns about traffic and loitering around the Crafton House, which has housed both ministries for more than two years.
The building is in an area zoned residential.
The 380-member congregation responded by suing the borough, claiming that both operations are part of its “mission and ministry” and should stay open.
The church also argued that a local zoning officer issued a permit for both activities in 2002, and said the zoning board’s denial of a variance request last year was arbitrary and unconstitutional.
“It’s a profound issue,” said the Rev. Bruce Gillette, a First Presbyterian co-pastor. “Basically, what this means is that a government body can tell a church who they can minister to, who they’re allowed to have on their property.”
The food pantry and counseling service have continued operating, pending a resolution of the court case.
Superior Court Assignment Judge George Stanger Jr. ruled on March 12 that the volunteer-run pantry and the agency-operated counseling service should be considered separately, although they were listed together on an application for a zoning variance.
Stanger ordered the applications separated for reconsideration by the board, which will take up the matter again on June 8. Gillette said the church would appeal any ruling against either ministry.
A woman who answered the phone at the Pitman zoning office on May 12 declined to comment on the case.
Leaders of First church are ready to go back before the zoning board.
“We’re confident,” Gillette said. “We appreciate the opportunity to make our case again, and the best argument we will have is that we’ve been in operation now a full year since the ruling and there have been no problems.”
Gillette and his wife, Carolyn, are co-pastors at 380-member First church, an 80-year-old congregation in Gloucester County, about 14 miles south of Camden.
The church bought the Crafton House in December 2001 from the county Association for Retarded Citizens.
First church deacon Mel Powell, the food-pantry coordinator, said he believes the church has a good chance to get a permit for at least the food pantry.
“Things are going to work out in a positive fashion,” he said. “Right now I believe it looks good.”
The three-hours-a-week food program serves 700 to 900 people a month, Powell said, and the counseling service has dozens of clients in a typical month. He said the pantry is supplied in part by South Jersey Food Bank, an affiliate of Second Harvest, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization.
Powell said volunteers from First church and from Lutheran, United Methodist, Episcopalian and Baptist congregations take turns staffing the food bank.
Gillette said only six neighbors voiced complaints during the original zoning board hearing in the case in April 2003, while hundreds of others have signed petitions in support of the ministries. He said the residents’ initial concerns are groundless.
“We haven’t had any need for the police to be called by anybody for people coming for food or for counseling,” he said, adding that there has been no loitering, vandalism or “anything of a negative nature.” He said church officials have encouraged police to patrol the area often and make themselves visible.
“We don’t want any problems,” Gillette said. “But there’s never been any problems. It’s just not an issue.”
He said the pantry and counseling services have helped improve the quality of life of “many, many people.”
The Presbyterian Church (USA) Hunger Program (PHP) last year contributed $5,000 toward First church’s legal expenses in the case.
“The hunger ministry has been an integral part of congregational life since the time of the first disciples,” said the Rev. Gary Cook, the hunger program’s coordinator. “It’s important that we protect the church’s ability to minister to those in need.”
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