The city council in Brookings, a town of 6,000 in southwestern Oregon, has restricted church ministries to the homeless “after some city residents complained about safety issues during the hours church ministries were operating their soup kitchens,” according to the report.

“Feeding hungry people is at the core of what our church believes Jesus calls us to do,” said Rev. Bernie Lindley, vicar of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. “We do not see how a municipality can interfere with that mission without violating our constitutional right to freely practice our faith.”