Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church will be closing the SHARE shelter it has been operating in the Calvary Lutheran Church building since last spring.

Jane Klausen, a neighbor and member of the shelter task force, said the announcement was made during the Nov. 5 meeting of Our Redeemer's, SHARE and neighborhood representatives.

She said Our Redeemer's offered SHARE the opportunity to conduct sex offender background checks or move out. The shelter declined to conduct the checks.

"We have requested that SHARE take responsibility for screening for Level III Sex Offender Background checks," Our Redeemer's Council President Janet Woodfield said in a letter to neighbors. "If they refuse, the shelter will close."

On Sept. 12, a sex offender living at the shelter at 7002 23rd Ave. N.W. was removed by SHARE.

Prior to the shelter moving to Ballard June 1, many neighbors had been adamant that SHARE conduct background checks on shelter residents. The organization refused, stating that their interview process was enough.

Since Sept. 12, no new shelter residents have been allowed into the shelter.

"We too share your concern for safety, especially of children, which is why we have not allowed any new residents to be admitted to the SHARE shelter on our Calvary Campus," Woodfield said in the letter. "We are also concerned about those without shelter, which is why we are spending so much time and energy trying to revise the entrance protocol for prospective residents. To do otherwise, we feel, would be inadequate."

The letter from Woodfield, sent to neighbors Nov. 4, indicates that SHARE and Our Redeemer's are still working to come to an agreement. That was not the case at the Nov. 5 meeting, Klausen said.

"At the task force meeting last night, the shelter closure was presented as a done deal," she said. "SHARE had already decided not to honor the request for sex offender background checks because they feel that their current screening process is adequate."

No date has been set for the closure, Klausen said.

UPDATE: Rebecca Butler at Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church has confirmed that the shelter will be closing due to Our Redeemer's and SHARE not being able to come to an agreement on sex offender checks.

She said the shelter will move out of the Calvary Lutheran building when it has found a new place to go. Or it will close if shelter membership dwindles to five or fewer residents.

UPDATE: Our Redeemer's Lutheran Church has released a statement, which can be downloaded with the link on the right.