Michigan church says city officials waging 'targeted' harassment campaign over religious beliefs: lawsuit

A Michigan church that has distributed food in one of the poorest areas in Macomb County for over three decades claims that local officials have engaged in “targeted intimidation efforts” to shut them down over the beliefs of the congregation.

Harvest Time Christian Fellowship and its pastor, Curtiss Ostosh, have filed a lawsuit alleging that the City of Warren is “bombarding” the church with a series of accusations, including zoning and parking violations.

The city has also cited the church for unsanitary conditions and clutter on the property, but the church says that it maintains "State approved and required sanitation and hygienic requirements as noted by multiple State inspections."

The church believes that the code violation charges originated in Mayor Lori Stone’s office, who is listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.

As noted in the lawsuit, HTCF has distributed food “without significant complaints” prior to its recent dealings with Warren.

Ostosh, who has served as the church’s pastor for 18 years, told The Christian Post that HTCF has operated the food pantry ministry for more than 30 years. 

"We have a pretty effective outreach ministry, just showing the love of Christ, meeting the issue of food insecurity," Ostosh said. "Our particular zip code, where our church is located, is in an impoverished area. It's the most impoverished zip code in the entire county."

The church distributes food to the community on Tuesdays and Fridays, to church members on Sundays and Wednesdays, and also provides emergency food assistance throughout the week when needed.

“There's just a lot of need, and people have come to rely on us and depend on us. And for more than three decades, we really had no issues at all with our city,” Ostosh said. 

In August 2023, HTCF received a service award from Warren in recognition of its contributions to the community. The complaint alleges that the relationship with the city changed following Stone’s election as mayor in November 2023.

"Under the new Mayor, the CITY chose to ignore federal law, the history of good works by the CHURCH, and the Michigan and federal constitutions, and began a targeted campaign of harassment and government overreach against the CHURCH and Pastor OSTOSH," the complaint states.

Beginning in 2024, Ostosh was "repeatedly hauled into the local Municipal Court" over alleged code violations, according to the lawsuit. Among the church's complaints are allegations that the city seized several church-owned vehicles used in ministry operations. According to the complaint, the city towed two vehicles in May 2024 that had been parked on the church’s property for over 10 years.

Ostosh said one of the vehicles taken was the church's refrigerated truck, which played a key role in food distribution efforts. The other towed vehicle was an 18-foot trailer.

"They were church-owned, they were properly plated, they're working vehicles," Ostosh said. 

City officials argued, however, that the church lacked a site plan authorizing overnight parking of vehicles on church property.

Other items seized by the city include dumpsters and the church’s composting equipment, which means driving several miles to the dump to dispose of waste.

"The city told us to get a dumpster years ago for trash management," he said. "And then under the new administration, they're like, 'Well, you can't have a dumpster on your property.'"

The pastor believes the enforcement campaign is motivated by hostility toward the church's religious beliefs and his public advocacy, claiming that Stone "has been very hostile to Christians, especially active Christians like us."

In addition to leading the church, Ostosh said he is active in local politics and serves on behalf of Right to Life Michigan. He is also open about his beliefs on the biblical view of marriage and abortion. 

The complaint alleges that city enforcement actions intensified after Ostosh "posted an unflattering but protected portrait of the mayor's anti-Christian LGBTQ agenda on social media." It further claims that, following the post, individuals began monitoring church activities and filing complaints. 

"Immediately after his post, individuals, mostly easily identifiable as LGBTQ females, began parking on the street outside the CHURCH and were observed watching the CHURCH parking lot and taking notes inside their vehicles," the lawsuit states.

At the time of reporting, the City of Warren said it had not been served with a lawsuit by Harvest Time Christian Fellowship.

“Consistent with the City's policy regarding responses to litigation, and given the potential for litigation in this matter, the City declines to comment and will not provide any further response to this request,” a spokesperson for the city told CP. 

Despite his opposition to same-sex marriage, Ostosh said the church serves anyone who seeks assistance.

"We have gay people who come to our church and our food ministry. We used to have a transgender guy that used to come to our food pantry, and I went to breakfast with him several times just to talk to him," he said.

Throughout the dispute, the church leader said that the food pantry has remained operational.

"We've never stopped distributing food, we've never missed a distribution day, but have they made it difficult? They've made it tremendously difficult," Ostosh said.

According to the pastor, the church has incurred thousands of dollars in fines and additional costs associated with renting replacement vehicles after city officials seized church-owned trucks. He estimated that rental expenses exceed $100 per day plus mileage. To help cover those costs, Ostosh said he and his wife have tapped into their personal resources.

"We choose to do the ministry that we do," he said. "It's a choice to lift up God's banner in a place that's impoverished; God sent us there."