The Inter-Mountain photo by Taylor McKinnie Church in the Park Director Mike Brooks, standing center, addresses the Elkins Parks and Recreation Commission during their Wednesday meeting.

ELKINS — Church in the Park officials made their case for being allowed to go back to hosting events in the city’s parks without paying a rental fee during Wednesday evening’s Elkins Parks and Recreation Commission meeting.

Church in the Park Director Mike Brooks, joined by a small group of supporters, addressed the commission during the meeting. Brooks asked commissioners to allow the religious community group to go back to using space in the Elkins City Park for their events on a “first come, first serve” basis, instead of having to rent a space for $65 each week.

EPRC Chairman Dick Harvey, EPRC Director Tom Tesar, Commissioner Sam Severino, Commissioner Rob Nestor, Elkins City Police Chief Travis Bennett and Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco were all in attendance at the meeting. Commissioner Jack Tribble and Third Ward City Council member Christopher Lowther, who serves on the commission, were absent.

In July, the Commission reportedly asked Church in the Park to no longer hold their weekly prayer and free meals events at the city’s parks without renting space. City officials cited issues with the group allegedly not cleaning up trash and waste after their events, and not properly renting the pavilion space they used every week.

Members of the group have repeatedly denied that trash was left after their events, and stated that they had been following the “first come, first serve” rule that was previously posted on the Elkins City Park pavilions.

On July 25, The Inter-Mountain was informed by city officials that, “At its July 16 meeting, EPRC took action and made the decision that all EPRC park pavilions must be reserved through the standard EPRC rental process.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, Dave Moran, a Church in the Park volunteer, and Gary Lockett, former pastor for Highland United Methodist Church and also a Church in the Park volunteer, addressed the commission during the public comment portion.

“Mike’s been doing this for three years. I’ve been helping for two years,” Moran said. “We haven’t had any complaints about it from anybody… We’re just trying to take God’s word to the people. The people that’s not welcome in the churches. People who don’t feel comfortable in conventional churches.”

“All of us here tonight, we see people in the park… they just need our prayers and our love to show how much we care about them,” Lockett said during his comments. “That Jesus really loves them and that’s why we gather in the park to help people, to give them hope and let them know no matter what they’ve gone through, God forgives.”

Brooks addressed the Commission during a meeting agenda item regarding the group, stating that renting a pavilion every week for the Church in the Park events has been financially straining, and asked the Commission to let the group use the space as they had before.

“We need to work together on this somehow. We can’t fight. The problem will still be here whether we fight or not,” Brooks said. “I don’t know if you need to vote on it or what you’re going to do, but Sunday we paid for the park… and we have two more Sundays paid for, but after that I’m asking you to open your hearts and let the people come to hear God’s word at the park. Nothing can go wrong with God’s presence, only good can come from that.”

Moran also addressed the commission again, elaborating on what the group does to help the homeless in the community, such as taking people to rehab, helping people get proper IDs, providing clothing and shoes, providing free meals and more.

“We’re composed of all volunteers from five different churches coming together to do this,” Moran said. “We work on nothing but donations. We get no funding from anybody. State, federal, we don’t even think about grants. God provides what we need… We provide them with clothing, we provide them with shoes, and everything is donated… We’re not asking the city for money… Having to rent a pavilion is putting a financial strain on us. For $65 a week, we could feed a lot of people.”

Moran also called on the city to work with the group to address the issue of homelessness in the area, and added that the group has begun branching out to places like the Highland Park area and Crystal Springs.

After Brooks and Moran spoke, Harvey asked Severino and Nestor if they had any comments, to which they responded they did not. Tesar, Bennett and Marco also did not have any comments on the matter when asked.

Before moving to the next agenda item, Harvey made a comment of his own.

“I guess my statement would be that, respectfully, the goal of this commission is to provide a clean, safe, friendly and welcoming environment to all the citizens of Elkins, and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Harvey said.

The commission took no action during their meeting in regard to Church in the Park’s request.

This was the second time Church in the Park officials and supporters have addressed city officials on this matter. In the initial response to the EPRC’s decision, more than 40 members and supporters of the group attended and spoke during the public comments section of the Elkins City Council’s July 24 meeting.

“The city had nothing to do with what happened,” Elkins City Communication Manager Leon Kaye told The Inter-Mountain on July 23. “It’s Parks and Rec, and we back them up… They made their decision, which I think is fair, and the city backs them up 100%.”