Street preacher slapped with fine

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