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By Marni Rose McFall
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The "largest psychedelic church in the world" is set to shut its doors in San Francisco following a dispute with the city's planning department.
Members of Zide Door follow the Church of Ambrosia faith, which believes that psychedelics such as entheogenic, or psychoactive substances such as psilocybin mushrooms and DMT can lead to spiritual enlightenment, or access to the divine.
Though psychedelics are illegal in California, San Francisco has passed nonbinding resolutions to decriminalize the drugs, which would make the possession, or usage of entheogenic substances the lowest local law enforcement priority.
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The church's pastor, Dave Hodges, who says the organization is the largest entheogenic church in the world with 120,000 members, alleges the city's planning department is harassing the church.
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In a statement shared with Newsweek, a Zide Door spokesperson said: "It is very unfortunate that at the end of this month, we must close Zide Door, a church that provides entheogenic plants as sacraments for those who see their personal spiritual journeys.
"We know that many of our members are terribly disappointed by this announcement. And our departure will also be a loss for the San Francisco neighborhood, where so many people in need are aided by the mere presence of the church."
In a press release shared on their website announcing the closure, Hodges said that "Zide Door, the psychedelic church garnering national recognition for its devotion to the spiritual power of psilocybin mushrooms, will close its San Francisco location by the end of this year—the victim of a city planning department bent on expelling the institution."
The release alleges that San Francisco Planning Department officials had targeted the location with structural upgrade mandates, which they say were not required before the church opening and would cost it a six-figure amount to repair.
"It's obviously hostility from people in the Planning Department," Hodges said.
The Planning Department has disputed the pastor's claims. In an email shared with Newsweek, it said that the property has three open code violations, including electrical and plumbing violations. The department had also made a complaint that alterations had been made to the building without a permit.
Planning Department Chief of Staff Dan Sider told Newsweek in a statement: "We've made significant strides to reduce process and fees for small businesses of all kinds in San Francisco, and the Church of Ambrosia is no exception."
The statement continued: "There are outstanding plumbing and electrical safety and installation code violations at this property. The building code represents the minimum legal safety standards for a structure.
"When a building isn't meeting the minimum code standards, the Department of Building Inspection requires the property owner fix it so it's safe for people to occupy. That's what we are doing here."
December 28 will be the last day that the church will be open for business, but Zide Door's press release states that "If tolerance toward the church improves, the church could eventually reopen Zide Door in San Francisco."
Hodges said that for now, "the signs of the universe are saying, 'Get out of S.F. as soon as possible.'"
A Zide Door spokesperson told *Newsweek: "*We want all our members to know that we will continue to serve them without interruption at our founding Church of Ambrosia, located across the San Francisco Bay in Oakland." The spokesperson also confirmed plans to "expand the church where possible and to be reunited with the San Francisco community when the time is right."
The church's Oakland location, which is home to "an impressive mural and other significant psychedelic art," according to Zide Door, will remain open.
Update 12/13/24, 10:09 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the San Francisco Planning Department and Zide Door.
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