World’s largest “psychedelic church” to shut down San Francisco location

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Zide Door appears to be a simple, unremarkable structure in San Francisco from the outside, with no clues or indicators indicating that it is a psychedelic church within.

You are met by walls covered in hallucinogenic artwork and a subtle cannabis odor if you manage to get past the round-the-clock security guard. The spiritual center first resembles an art museum rather than a conventional church with pews and an altar.

However, Zide Door’s pastor, Dave Hodges, stated in a news conference on Wednesday that the church will close its San Francisco facility by the end of this year because of “harassment from the Planning Department” of the city.

According to Hodges, the city’s Planning Department authorities have unfairly singled out the church’s San Francisco location by requiring structural modifications to the building, which would need six-figure repair costs.

“One of the biggest things that we’re dealing with right now has to do with windows that constantly get broken,” Hodges stated. “We currently have boards over that, but the city says it’s unacceptable and that the only way to remedy the issue is to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars. We are just another victim of the ongoing issue that many small businesses in San Francisco face.”

Zide Door members adhere to a religion known as the Church of Ambrosia, which holds that entheogenic plants—psychedelic chemicals like DMT and psilocybin mushrooms—can be utilized to get “access to the divine,” according to Hodges.

“We are the biggest entheogenic church in the world. There are currently 120,000 members. We offer DMT, cannabis, and mushrooms to individuals as a sacrament,” Hodges stated. “We make sure that there’s a safe way people can access them and information for them to do it safely.”

In California, psychedelics are prohibited. San Francisco has, however, approved non-binding resolutions to legalize the narcotics and to give local law enforcement the least priority when it comes to the possession or use of entheogenic substances.

With regard to obtaining permits and complying with building codes to operate in its building on Howard Street in the South of Market neighborhood, Hodges stated that Zide Door has encountered multiple conflicts with the Planning Department and the Department of Building Inspection in the 20 months since it opened its doors in San Francisco.

Hodges claimed that before the church started using the area, many of the essential structural improvements were neither necessary nor enforced.

Tatiana Takaeva Shiff, the building’s owner, who rents the space to Zide Door, shared the pastor’s opinion that the church is being unfairly singled out by the Planning Department.

In an interview, she stated, “Since Zide Door arrived here, I have experienced every issue with the Planning Department.”

A “sliding glass-door that led to nowhere” on the building’s second story was the first issue.

Hodges obeyed because he believed it was a reasonable matter. He said the church had to spend $100,000 to fix it.

“We both agreed that the building was having issues with that. Hodges remarked, “It was just something that someone had to fix eventually.” “It was an expensive fix.”

But then more problems kept coming up. The most recent one required covering the windows on the bottom floor, which vandals have broken time and time again.

“They say we need ‘ingressed’ shutters or security shades that we would have to put all over the windows,” Hodges stated. “We can’t afford it.”

Hodges believes that the Department of Building Inspection and the Planning Department are unfairly singling out the church.

“Our biggest concern is, even if we were to be able to afford the ‘ingressed’ shutters, that they would just come up with another problem after that,” he stated.

In an interview, Daniel Sider, the Planning Department’s chief of staff, stated that the church started operations without obtaining the necessary permissions.

“This establishment opened for business without seeking any necessary permits,” Sider stated. “City agencies have been working with Pastor Hodges’ representatives since the spring to help them legalize.”

Hodges is unable to provide a definitive explanation for his belief that Zide Door is being targeted by the city.

“That may be the reason why many people dislike the thought of individuals utilizing mushrooms as part of a religion for many reasons. “There are things that go through other people’s minds that I really can’t tell you,” he remarked.

Hodges claimed that working with Oakland, where Zide Church also has a facility, has been far simpler.

“Oakland has been a lot friendlier to us for the most part,” he stated. “Except we did get raided in August of 2020 by the Oakland Police Department.”

Allegations that the church was running a cannabis dispensary led to the raid of its original Oakland location.

Zide Door will remain open in Oakland while closing its San Francisco location. If Daniel Lurie, the new mayor-elect, can make improvements in the Planning Department and the Department of Building Inspection, Hodges is amenable to going back to San Francisco.

“I really hope that the mayor can make some changes,” Hodges stated. “The only question is how long it will take. We are not in a situation where we can just wait for things to remain the same for months on end. Thus, I fervently hope he will have an impact.

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