Street preacher slapped with fine

Defiant with the belief he's doing God's work in Calgary streets, an embattled preacher defied city bylaws and delivered an amplified, open-air sermon without a permit last night.

City bylaw officers fined Artur Pawlowski, who runs the Street Church across from the Drop-In Centre, for using the park without a permit and for using amplification in a city park. The summonses are the latest in a series of fines handed to the preacher.

But bylaw boss Bill Bruce believes the city and Paw¬lowski may be nearing a solu¬tion to a conflict that's seen both parties battle through the media and in the courts. "Everything turned out very positive;' said Bruce. Pawlowski, who met with bylaw officers after last night's service, agreed not to hold a sermon tomorrow and to meet with the city to try and reach a resolution.

Before last night's sermon, Pawlowski charged the city and the Drop- In Centre were trying to keep him from deliv¬ering his message and said he had no choice but to stand on the park and preach to the homeless with or without the city's permission. "This is a prejudice and an affront to the cross;' he said. "We must go like sheep to the slaughter:'

Pawlowski said he's being persecuted unfairly and that he's never been charged with a noise violation.

PABLO FERNANDEZ Sun Media

The sermons may stop - but not without a fight, according to a downtown street preacher Who said he'll flout a city bylaw Friday.

Art Pawlowski's Friday ser-mons - delivered with the aid of loudspeakers - to homeless people near the Calgary Drop-In Centre has to stop, said Bill Bruce, the city's manager of animal and bylaw services.

"What he's trying to do is force a situation where we are going to martyr him," he said.

The city has been flooded with complaints about the ser¬mons. An injunction that would have allowed Pawlowski to continue with his outdoor ser¬vices was denied a few weeks ago.

Pawlowski has said he will continue to preach, regardless of city rules.

- Kristen Enevold, 24 hours

Calgary Sun

April 27, 2007

STREET PREACHER: The city has given a Calgary local his license back to speak his mind on the street.

The city may have pulled his permit, but a controversial Calgary street preacher says that won't stop him from spreading the word of God in a downtown park. Art Pawlowski said he still plans to preach to the homeless this Friday evening — and he will defy a ban on using a loudspeaker.

"I believe they will come and seize the equipment," he said. "The speaker belongs to us and the volunteers have already told me they will not let them take it."

Pawlowski has been using amplified sound to bring his message to street people during three-times-a week gatherings at a small green space across from the Drop-in Centre, a homeless shelter.

After complaints from neighbours, the city issued him a 2007 parks permit that bans his use of loudspeakers. Alberta's Court of Queen's Bench upheld the permit's rules, and a defiant Pawlowski was issued more than $400 in tickets earlier this month.

Pawlowski said he has helped more than 400 people get off the streets, and accuses the city of mishandling Calgary's homeless problem. "They shovel them into one big place without addressing the real problem — and the real problem is they have lost hope," he said. "You preach to them and speak over and over again that they don't have to die homeless, they will believe it and they will be off the street."

Last August, Art Pawlowski spent a night in a jail cell, a night in which he claims he stopped a crystal meth addict from killing himself.

The controversial street minister says the threat of jail means little to him, and certainly won’t stop him from preaching.  And he says he’ll go there again, if that’s what it takes.

“I would go to jail, absolutely,” he said Wednesday, a day after the city revoked his Street Church Ministry’s permit to preach in a downtown city park.

“If taking people of the streets means I have to go to jail, so be it.”

Calgary Parks took away Pawlowski’s permit Tuesday afternoon, after he repeatedly defied city orders to stop using amplified sound to spread his message.

With no permit, Pawlowski can no  longer legally preach at Triangle Park opposite the Calgary Drop-In Centre, something he has done three nights a week for the past four years. 

And if he continues preaching, he faces fines, a court date, a possible contempt of court charge, and eventually, jail.

More detailed Truth regarding the noise level at Street Church (Seems to be a hot topic)

Street Church had never received a ticket for noise violations from 2002-2006

Every complaint was proven to be invalid by the bylaw officers (We have 30 signed reports by the bylaw officers)

Even though Street Church had never received a ticket we still wanted to work with the city, so in September of 2006, a Bylaw officer came down and told us to change direction of the speakers, and go from 4 speakers to 2. We complied. (We have the signed report by the bylaw officer)

1. Their has been over 100 complaints, these complaints have been made by just 11 different people complaining over and over again.
2. A group of people came to Street Church in spring of 2006 and said they did not like our message, so they were going to complain over and over again until the city shut us down. This is when we started having problems with the city at that location.
3. The judge did not make a judgment against Street Church, she just stepped away from the issue, so Street Church and the City could resolve their issues.
4. The city called for a meeting to work it out on April 19; at the beginning of the meeting the city lawyer said they were not there to work it out, just to clarify their position. They made it clear they wanted no amplification, period. The city lied to the media saying the opposite was true. I was personally at that meeting, and have learned a lesson regarding what to believe from the city and what I read or hear from the media.
5. Street Church has been threatened and harassed by the city on 40 different occasions (most are on video tape), many being without the use of amplification, just open air preaching without sound.
6. Art was arrested last year for reading the Bible and praying in a public park during the Fringe festival, with no amplification
7. There is a bylaw in place that sets the limit for noise level in the downtown core and that limit is being followed by Street Church. We have purchased a decibel meter to monitor our sound level. (Considering bars, Folk Festival, etc are allowed to go above and beyond this noise level; this action by the city is unfair)
8. Conclusion: The city and a group of people do not like the gospel message; they want this message shut down. As the mayor quoted in the paper, “the word should only be shared with those wanting to listen.” There is a big problem with this statement, it is not Biblical. We have learned many people, at first do not want to hear the gospel, but as the seeds continue to get planted people respond. Some of our biggest enemy’s become the first ones to repent and receive Jesus. The great commission is to preach the gospel to all creation, not if they want to hear or not. Jim Elliot and his friends were killed by the very people they were trying to share the gospel with, but their wives went in after and continued to be a light, and most of the tribe got saved, even many who killed the missionaries.
9. This is not about noise level it is about the freedom to proclaim the gospel freely; Satan hates the open proclamation of the Gospel. Street Church has decided to make a stand because
10. We are standing on truth.

Street preacher asks for fairshake

PETER GREEN AND COLETTE DERWORIZ CALGARY HERALD

A controversial downtown street preacher whose group has been tar-geted by city bylaw enforcers in recent weeks for amplifying his sermons says he's growing more and more frustrated with what he considers unfair treatment.

 Art Pawlowski of the Calgary Street Church Ministries ran afoul of city bylaw services last Sunday, in part for projecting street sermons via loudspeakers at Triangle Park, across from the Calgary Drop-In Centre.

Pawlowski got several tickets fol-lowing a service, including one for use of amplification in a public area. He was back at the park Friday evening using his speakers. "What we are asking for is to be treated fairly," he said Friday evening. "I don't mind criticism. Go ahead and criticize me, but be sure to show all sides."

Last year, following complaints that the sermons were too loud, the city revoked a condition in the group's permit that allowed for amplification in public. Pawlowski said the bulk of the more than 150 noise complaints against his church have originated from a core group of about II nearby residents. He also cited numerous city bylaw reports dating back to last summer that found noise levels in the area were reasonable. "Come on, the noise of the traffic (on 4th Avenue S.E.) is bigger," Pawlowski said. "And now we've lost some good friends because they thought we're breaking the law."

Mayor Dave Bronconnier denied the city was treating Pawlowski un-fairly. "I think it's very important that a minister preach the gospel and cer-tainly share the word of God with those who want to listen," he told media Friday afternoon. "In this situation, though, it's not about preaching. It's about violating the noise bylaw."

Bronconnier noted Pawlowski has been granted a permit for two years - provided he stayed within city noise restrictions. "Unfortunately this is one minister who believes it is his God-given right to amplify as long and loud as possi¬ble."