Pastor laments homeless campers encroaching on San Francisco church

SAN FRANCISCO — Rev. Yul Dorn is the pastor of Emmanuel Church of God in Christ in San Francisco. “I was actually born and raised here in this church,” Dorn said. “I met my wife here at like four-years-old and now I stand at the helm.”

He is a community leader who, at a one point, lost his home and became homeless over a decade ago.

Rev. Dorn continues to serve his community — even at times when he feels unappreciated.

“It’s like people don’t have any respect for the church anymore. That really hurts me,” Dorn said. “It’s like there are no rules anymore. Nobody has any rules. No one has any moral compass. I caught a guy right here defecating.”

The pastor says this isn’t a new occurrence but, in the past two years, the problem has worsened.

“We put a floodlight back there and (street dwellers) took it out so it wouldn’t come on when they went down there,” Dorn said. “Then we finally got the (surveillance) camera but it’s an ongoing problem.”

KPIX contacted supervisor Dean Preston who represents District 5 regarding Rev. Dorn’s experiences. Preston shared the following.

“Emanuel Church of God In Christ is a crucial institution in our district. My office has been in contact with Pastor Dorn and city departments to ensure the church gets any needed support and is able to continue to serve our district.” 

“I think we need to get out of the mentality of pointing fingers because there is no limit of what can be accomplished if you don’t worry about who gets the credit,” Dorn said.

Rev. Dorn said that, despite this ongoing problem, this will not stop him from his mission of serving the people and being a steward to the house of God.