Religion and psychedelics collide in San Francisco church | Work

About a dozen people gathered in a loose semicircle on folding chairs around Hodges, who sat on a purple couch, asking questions about travel, drug use and other psychedelic substances.

Hodges told another man who reported feeling “drunk” and “giggleable” after ingesting Cambodian mushrooms that “no matter what dose you take, one thing is certain: One is that intent is very important.”

Monday marked the first anniversary of the founding of San Francisco’s Ambrosia Church. Magic Mushroom Church is not a non-profit organization. Instead, he operates a spiritual space and psychedelic business out of his two-story historic building at 1121 Howard Street.

The first floor is an art studio with colorful, psychedelic paintings on white walls, and the second floor is where people are offered “communion,” or mushroom doses, in exchange for donations.

As interest in psychedelics grows across the United States, some San Francisco groups, such as the Ambrosia Church, are blurring the line between First Amendment freedoms and federally controlled substances regulation, pushing for greater acceptance of psychedelics in religious settings and medicine. contributes to making it permanent.

For Lindsey Rucker, a member of Ambrosia Church, the cozy atmosphere on the church’s second floor was a big draw.

“It’s a more private atmosphere and each person has their own station where they can consult individually,” said Lindsey Rucker, who first joined the Oakland church before visiting the San Francisco church.

Rucker said he became interested in psychedelics while working as a substance use counselor in Novato. She discovered this church while she was studying for a master’s degree in social work. As a spiritual person her whole life, it felt like a natural fit.

“It connects you to what the meaning of life is and gives you an interest in what makes me happy,” she said.

She’s not alone. Hodges told The Examiner that the church currently has more than 100,000 members between its two locations. They are accepted through a survey-based membership system and can receive mushroom doses during church business hours.

Ambrosia Church may be better known, but it’s not the only church in San Francisco. At least two other of his established churches, the Living Church in Lower Nob Hill and the Church of Cosmic Consciousness in Castro, offer psychedelic mushrooms as a sacrament in exchange for donations in the City.

All three have opened their doors in the past year or so, but they don’t all adhere to the same definition of church.

The Living Church in Lower Nob Hill, for example, looks like your average storefront from the outside, although there’s no outdoor signage to show you what’s inside. Anyone entering must sign a waiver. The owner of Living Church declined to comment for this story, while Jade, owner of Cosmic Consciousness Church, initially agreed to speak with The Examiner but later stopped contact.

Mr. Hodges is not familiar with the media, and since Oakland police raided his Oakland store in August 2020 and seized about $200,000 worth of mushrooms, marijuana, and cash, he has not been able to keep up with his church’s activities. He has been outspoken about his beliefs.

The department reportedly acted on a tip from the Alameda County Health Department alleging that the illegal business was “causing respiratory health issues” to children nearby.

He soon reopened the church, but is in conflict with the City of Oakland over a special use permit for the church at 1216 10th Avenue due to zoning.

“The issue of administrative land use is something we’ve been working on in Oakland, and it’s something we’re working on in San Francisco,” he said.

San Francisco’s Department of Planning and Building Inspection has been sued over complaints about changes to the building’s interior and safety violations related to sliding glass doors on a second-floor patio that the planning department said posed a fall hazard. accused the church.

Hodges said he is actively working to resolve the issue and has not received any backlash from law enforcement in the meantime, which is likely due to a change in attitude, and that possession of psychedelic mushrooms in San Francisco and Oakland has been de facto decriminalized.

“There are a lot of things that are becoming more and more accepted throughout the Bay Area and actually across the country,” he says.

Unfortunately, he said, those changes won’t help if mushrooms remain federally illegal.

“It’s complicated, to say the least,” he said.

Despite the precedent set by a 1990 Supreme Court case, there remains legal ambiguity over whether churches can provide this substance. Oregon Department of Human Resources Employment Division v. Smith is a case involving two men: People fired from their jobs for using peyote in Native American religious ceremonies. The court held that the First Amendment does not protect individuals from taking illegal drugs as part of their religion.

“You have the right to freely exercise your religious beliefs, but that doesn’t mean you have the right to do anything that violates the law,” said Radhika Rao, a constitutional law expert at the University of California, San Francisco School of Law. To tell.

However, the court has recently become more protective of individual religious freedom, contradicting the 1990 ruling, she said. For example, during the coronavirus pandemic, when states closed all non-essential businesses, courts ruled that churches should be allowed to remain open.

“This is an area of ​​law that is kind of in flux these days,” Rao said.

But she added that this likely still wouldn’t protect the Mushroom Church if it was challenged, as the 1990 lawsuit still stands.

“There are exceptions to the law for certain things, but there are no exceptions for religion,” Rao said. “So, under the current Supreme Court, you might argue that your religion is being discriminated against.”

This is unlikely to change on a national level any time soon, but at least in California some bans may be lifted. A new bill authored by Bay Area state Sen. Scott Wiener and introduced in February seeks to legalize supervised psychedelic treatments in the state. This comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom last year vetoed another bill by Wiener that would have completely decriminalized psychedelics.

For people like Rucker, involved in San Francisco’s Mushroom Church, the intersection of therapy, religion, and psychedelics already exists. But even for those who adhere to more traditional ideologies, this is not an unprecedented combination.

Bishop Mark Andrus of the Episcopal Diocese of California said, “There has been a great desire for a long time to have a deeper experience of what we can call spirituality.”

He said there are already many examples, including chanting, dancing, music and even the sound bath at Grace Cathedral.

“Our service itself stimulates the senses: music, visuals, stained glass windows, smells, the use of incense, icons,” he said. “In all these ways we enhance the ordinary experience of everyday life, but the purpose is not for the quality of the experience itself, but rather to open ourselves to the reality of God.”

Psychedelics like psilocybin could be considered just another way to add to rituals to get people to open up, he says.

“While our church and most of Christianity do not use psychedelics to achieve that goal, broadly speaking we are on a path not too different from that,” he said. Told.

Andrus said he wouldn’t necessarily try psychedelic drugs, but he knows other ordained people who have accepted psychedelic drugs, and he cares for people who may be struggling with mental health issues. He said some people are learning how to administer psychedelic drugs as part of their goal to do so.

“A licensed therapist may be accompanied by a priest or pastor, forming a kind of treatment team,” he says. “These are people who represent faith. They are people of faith themselves, but they are trying to meet people where they are and help them.”

However, the City’s Mushroom Church does not always provide a safe and healing space for everyone involved. Volunteers at Hodges-Zyde Door Church in Oakland told the Examiner that they became disillusioned with the church after working there for the past two years.

“It’s not always all butterflies and flowers,” the volunteer said. “It’s basically a trap house disguised as a church.”

The volunteer, who asked to remain anonymous due to concerns about retribution, joined the church because of his traditional Christian background and passion for psilocybin.

“My idea of ​​church is more of a community, a place where people build community and are supported,” the volunteer said.

But the problem has worsened in recent years. The volunteer cited a toxic culture of harassment, abrupt termination, and an overall lack of respect from Hodges himself.

“I have no desire for revenge. [Hodges],” they said. “It’s really unfortunate and disappointing that he calls himself a pastor and calls the space a church, but doesn’t even acknowledge the people who work in the church. That’s it.”

Hodges acknowledged the harassment claims and acknowledged there have been incidents over the years of members harassing staff and vice versa.

He told the Examiner that members of the church are required to donate time, money and effort in exchange for the sacraments. However, in some cases, this ad hoc membership policy can open the door to problems.

“The structure of all of this is how we reward volunteers,” he said. “Some volunteers receive only the sacrament. Others receive the sacrament and cash, but there is variation in what they need and the time they donate to the church.”

The church has over 100,000 members, many of whom volunteer their time, so it can be difficult to keep track of what’s going on. “It’s amazing the number of people who have come and gone over the years for various reasons,” he says. “We certainly have things we have to deal with, just like everyone else.”

Despite the problems, the volunteers have no intention of leaving the church because of their love for the job.

“I was able to talk about mushrooms with people who are trying to improve their lives, whether it’s microdosing or megadosing,” said the volunteer. “Being able to facilitate that is a blessing in itself.”