‘They want it to look like Disneyland’: Ocean City church fights to shelter the unhoused

Some people come and go, but the beds of the church’s recurring guests hold their few belongings. A bundle of stuffed animals lines one pillowcase. A Bible is left open on the neighboring mattress. Clothes overflow from some of the bins that slide neatly under the metal-framed bunk beds.

Starting in April, staff at the century-old St. Paul’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church has used those couple dozen bunk beds to shelter people who have nowhere else to go. They continue to do so even after Ocean City officials issued thousands of dollars in fines to the church, citing the “barracks-style living quarters” are in violation of zoning codes.

“Their end goal is that the homeless are off the island. They don’t want them here,” said Rev. Jill Williams, rector of St. Paul’s By-the-Sea. “They want it to look like Disneyland.”

In an emailed statement, Lauren Davis, a spokesperson for Mayor Rick Meehan and the City council, said that the town “has a responsibility to ensure that all properties and facilities comply with established zoning, building, occupancy, and safety codes, and operate within allowed uses.”

“Code provisions are applied consistently to all properties in Ocean City in order to protect the health, safety, and welfare of both occupants and the broader community,” she added.

As the fines began to roll in, the church filed a religious liberty lawsuit in Baltimore’s federal court.

“My hope is that through the federal lawsuit they are forced to stop,” said Williams, adding that the legal battle has drained the church’s time and resources. “It is no less ‘church’ than what happens at 10 o’clock on Sunday. This is why we’re here.”

Residents and tourists are split on the issue. Business owners are exhausted by the fight dragging the vacation town into a negative light.

But tensions have only risen, and there is no clear path to a solution.

A new law sparked the issue a year ago

When Ocean City officials passed a law in May 2025 that outlawed sleeping overnight in public spaces or in vehicles, the homeless population was upended from the boardwalks, parks and the beach. Meehan said at the time that the ordinance was put in place to protect the health and well-being of the public.

After the law went into effect, people who had been kicked out of shelters and left with few places to turn asked Williams if they could stay on the church’s lawn.

“I said, ‘Of course you can stay here,’” she said. It started with a couple people sleeping under the church’s awning in the summer, but when enforcement ramped up “more people showed up. We needed more coverage than that little awning could provide.”

The church bought and distributed about 10 weatherproof tents and sleeping bags to help protect against the cold Maryland winter. The move sparked tensions between the church and town officials, who called Williams into a meeting in January, where she said she was told to get rid of the tents, which were in violation of zoning codes. City Manager Terence McGean gave St. Paul’s a deadline of March 31.

“This is the same course of action the Town would take with any property owner that has violated the zoning code,” McGean wrote.

Williams said she left the meeting shocked. Soon after, along with other church staff members, she decided to invest thousands of dollars in church savings and donations to purchase beds, bedding and storage totes to aid unhoused individuals. They also hired 10 staff members to ensure that two people are on duty each night to assist those who are sheltering there.

While the number of unhoused people in Ocean City is likely in the dozens, the Lower Shore region has Maryland’s second-highest rate of homelessness, trailing only Baltimore, according to Diakonia, the Eastern Shore’s sole comprehensive care program. It operates a 55-bed emergency shelter across the bridge in West Ocean City.

In 2025, nearly 6,000 people reached out to Diakonia for food and housing assistance, up from about 3,800 people who used the organization’s services in 2024. The nonprofit recently received money from the state to expand its campus in order to address the increase in homelessness and food insecurity on the Eastern Shore.

St. Paul’s church officials said it is different because it operates as a “low barrier shelter,” meaning anyone, including those with criminal convictions or mental illnesses, are allowed to stay. But once inside, individuals must follow shelter rules.

“We’re not gonna throw you out because we have to make an accommodation for you,” said Williams.

Ocean City officials warned the church to close the shelter or face fines about a month after it opened. Williams refused.

Citations for the beds began to arrive at the church on June 8 as lunch was being served. Williams said she met the city officials at the door of the church every day to cite scripture to them as they handed her a $1,000 fine.

The fines stopped at the end of June when the church filed a lawsuit against Ocean City for impeding on its free exercise of religion. The complaint also cites the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act, which protects places of worship from discrimination in zoning laws.

Ocean City has since denied all claims and submitted a counterclaim against the church, accusing it of deliberately violating local laws.

But both said Ocean City remains supportive of local organizations trying to curb homelessness in the area through the Worcester County Homeless Outreach Team.

“The Town remains committed to those efforts and encourages individuals in need of assistance to connect with this specialized team,” McGean wrote.

The argument has split the community

Support for St. Paul’s church has ballooned on social media. Hundreds of people have donated tens of thousands of dollars to the church.

Some local churches have been reluctant to stand by St. Paul’s, Williams said, and nearby businesses have also expressed concerns.

St. Paul’s sits just a block from the boardwalk and next to a handful of restaurants and hotels, including the Beach Bum Inn, Hotel Monte Carlo and Breakers Hotel, as well as the Polynesian condos.

A two-minute walk away at Shenanigan’s Irish Pub, the business’s longtime owner and resident of Ocean City, Greg Shockley, just wants a resolution.

“It’s a shame what’s going on from both sides,” he said, adding that the fight has given both the town and the church a black eye. “There’s common ground in there. There’s place for compromise, and it just needs to be found so everyone can move on.”

Olga Gjidede, owner of nearby Mitchell’s Market, said she felt the church was doing the right thing and wished the town would get on board.

“I understand the city is trying to make the streets look better and safer, but the charge they are giving the church is not right,” she said. “What kind of people are we if we don’t help the homeless?”

Williams said that she understands the town has an obligation to preserve and protect the many businesses that have sustained it as a resort town.

“The misperception is that I am not sympathetic to that because I am sympathetic to that, which is why I thought we had the same goal,” she said. She added that she sees the church as doing a service for the town and community by helping to house people who would otherwise sleep in public and risk arrest.

“These folks are part of the community. It’s not just people who own businesses that are the community,” she said.