{"id":173768,"date":"2026-03-01T11:13:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T11:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/173768\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T11:13:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T11:13:08","slug":"broward-priest-fights-city-over-soup-kitchen-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/173768\/","title":{"rendered":"Broward priest fights city over soup kitchen fines"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Father<\/p>\n

Father Bob Caudill at All Saints Catholic Mission feeds the homeless every day, despite city officials claiming it was against the rules. The city fined him $125 each day since 2016. He has waged on ongoing legal battle against the city.<\/p>\n

Carl Juste<\/p>\n

cjuste@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

Every day, twice a day, Father Robert Caudill presides over the soup kitchen at All Saints Catholic Mission. Every day, dozens of homeless individuals come to the small church, seeking warm food, showers, clean clothes and kindness.<\/p>\n

And every day, for a decade, the City of Oakland Park, a small municipality north of Fort Lauderdale, has fined Caudill $125 for operating a non-permitted soup kitchen, adding up to a debt of about $500,000. He has no intention to pay any of it and no intention to stop feeding the poor. Not until \u201cJesus calls me home<\/a>,\u201d he likes to say.<\/p>\n

On a recent afternoon, homeless South Floridians waited patiently in the pews for the priest, known as Father Bob, to wave them up to a window where volunteers hand out trays of chicken, vegetables and donuts. A sign next to the window reads: \u201cReligion that doesn\u2019t help isn\u2019t one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Father Father Bob Caudill runs a soup kitchen at All Saints Catholic Mission that feeds the homeless. The city of Oakland Park has fined him every day since 2016. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

All Saints has been locked in a legal battle with Oakland Park since 2016, when Caudill first sued the city over allegedly violating his religious freedom. The city argues that All Saints\u2019 soup kitchen operation breaks zoning rules because the city commission rezoned the area in 2014.<\/p>\n

After a decade of back-and-forth, All Saints is still waiting for its judgment day. Caudill\u2019s case did go to trial in January<\/a>, but city attorneys successfully had the trial dismissed before the jury could deliberate due to a missed deadline.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Peter Mavrick, Caudill\u2019s new attorney, filed a motion to try the case again. An Oakland Park spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

Caudill feels good about his chances if the case goes back to court, but he\u2019s worried about what may happen if a Broward jury doesn\u2019t agree with him. Though he has \u201cnever been afraid in my life,\u201d Caudill said he is fearful now, waking up at night in a cold sweat at the thought people going hungry if his soup kitchen closes. But his attorney told him he feels confident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to trust the lawyer and God,\u201d Caudill said.<\/p>\n

A decade of legal drama<\/p>\n

Shortly after All Saints Catholic Mission opened in 1990, Caudill heard a knock on the window one night. A hungry man was there asking for food, so Caudill handed him a Coke and peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The man later brought hungry friends to the church. All Saints\u2019 soup kitchen was born.<\/p>\n

All Saints, which is not affiliated with the Archdiocese of Miami, operated its soup kitchen at 3460 Powerline Road until 1995. The church expanded its program and moved the soup kitchen to a nearby building, where it operated for 20 years.<\/p>\n

In 2014, the city adopted ordinances to re-zone the area where All Saints\u2019 properties were, creating the Powerline Road Zoning District \u201cto engender redevelopment along the Powerline Road corridor through the implementation of specific regulations,\u201d according to court documents.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to think, \u2018No, people wouldn\u2019t sell us out for 30 pieces of silver. They wouldn\u2019t sell us out for money.\u2019 But no, that\u2019s true,\u201d Caudill said, referencing the payment Judas received for betraying Jesus. \u201cEvery time I get something from a friend of mine in the city or people that talk to me from the city, they say, \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s development. They want you out. It doesn\u2019t look good. Developers won\u2019t come there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"People Eating a warm lunch at All Saints Catholic Mission in Oakland Park. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The rezoning meant All Saints\u2019 20-year-old soup kitchen was no longer permitted. In September 2015, Caudill moved the soup kitchen back to its original location and sold the other building. \u201cThey had told me I had to stop feeding people, so I said, \u2018OK, I\u2019m going to move everything into the church,\u2019\u201d Caudill said.<\/p>\n

But he still wasn\u2019t in the clear. The city has been fining him ever since.<\/p>\n

Caudill first sued the City of Oakland Park in June 2016, alleging that the city\u2019s fines and efforts to shutter the soup kitchen violated his and the church\u2019s religious freedom under the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The original complaint was dismissed, so he filed again. That complaint was also dismissed. And so he filed again.<\/p>\n

Court documents over the years reveal elements of both sides\u2019 arguments.<\/p>\n

An amended complaint Caudill filed in 2019 argues that his church feeds the poor and homeless \u201cin the exercise in his firmly held religious convictions and in compliance with the express dictates of the Holy Bible.\u201d The complaint includes a chapter from the Bible from Deuteronomy 15:7-11: \u201cYou shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the need and to the poor, in your land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Father Father Bob Caudill has fought for a decade to continue to operate his soup kitchen at All Saints Church in Oakland Park. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The city fired back in its motion to dismiss, arguing that is not part of Caudill\u2019s religion to feed the homeless: \u201cWhile it may be inconvenient for the plaintiffs to have to move their soup kitchen to another property, it does not present a substantial burden on the exercise of religion under FRFRA as a soup kitchen may be operated elsewhere in the city, or other methods of feeding the poor and homeless may be utilized as to not violate the city\u2019s zoning ordnance i.e. donating to a food bank or another soup kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawyer who was originally handling Caudill\u2019s case dropped out due to illness. After hearing about Caudill\u2019s struggle to find a new lawyer, Mavrick offered his services pro bono in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis guy called me out of the blue,\u201d Caudill said. \u201cThat has to be the hand of God, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mavrick said he had donated to Caudill\u2019s soup kitchen in the past and admired how much Caudill cares about the homeless, a population most people either treat poorly or ignore entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do have a strong faith, but I did not do this type of work,\u201d Mavrick said. \u201cBut I felt badly they\u2019re screwing over these people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jumping into Caudill\u2019s 10-year-old case has been complicated. It\u2019s unusual for a case like this to have dragged on for so long, Mavrick said, but that appears to be due to the previous lawyer\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

The case did finally go to trial in front of a jury in January, but city attorneys argued that Caudill\u2019s previous lawyer never appealed the results of a 2016 administrative hearing in which a special master decided that All Saints violated city ordinances. The judge agreed, and the trial was thrown out, Mavrick said.<\/p>\n

But, Mavrick said, it\u2019s still not over. If a judge approves the motion filed on Friday, the case will go back to court. If not, Mavrick said he\u2019ll appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the hand I\u2019m dealt,\u201d Mavrick said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The true spirit of Jesus\u2019<\/p>\n

Caudill\u2019s calling to feed the poor came from childhood in Oklahoma. His family had a home in a Cherokee Nation town. The local parish was very poor, Caudill remembered, and the church itself was just one large room, similar to his own church today. The priest there would hold mass and then feed people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought, \u2018Oh my gosh, this is the true spirit of Jesus,\u2019\u201d Caudill said. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t in a synagogue all day. He was out with the poor and helping people and healing them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A A man waits to be served lunch at All Saints Catholic Mission\u2019s daily soup kitchen. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Church attendees are familiar with Caudill\u2019s fight with the city. A television by the front door next to a statue of the Virgin Mary plays clips of Caudill\u2019s past TV interviews about the lawsuit. Ahrea Kellerman and her husband, who usually come to the church once a day to eat, said they couldn\u2019t disagree more with the city\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re good people. They\u2019re trying to do the right thing,\u201d Kellerman said. \u201cThey\u2019re helping people who can\u2019t help themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bill Bill Ledger, 54, left, sits with his dogs Scrappy and Scavenger while waiting for lunch to be served as volunteer Freddy Clements, 61, interacts with his pets. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Bill Ledger, who came to the church a recent afternoon for lunch, said the church has provided him with a lot more than just a warm meal. He got a clean new shirt, socks and a place to temporarily park his car to sleep safely at night. He shared some extra chicken he got from the church with his dogs Scrappy and Scavenger.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s fines baffled him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just don\u2019t understand why they\u2019d want to shut that down. It makes no damn sense,\u201d Ledger said. \u201cI think they don\u2019t understand he\u2019s giving hand ups, not hand outs.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story was originally published February 28, 2026 at 4:30 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Father Bob Caudill at All Saints Catholic Mission feeds the homeless every day, despite city officials claiming it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173769,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[82460,82459,249,251,250,82463,82462,82461],"class_list":["post-173768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-all-saints-catholic-mission","tag-father-robert-caudill","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news","tag-homeless-services","tag-oakland-park-florida","tag-soup-kitchen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}