Delta Police are investigating after a local church was vandalized with anti-Christian graffiti.
Maintenance chair Bryan Hodgins discovered the disturbing message scrawled on the side of Crossroads United Church on the morning of Nov. 10. Hodgins immediately contacted police and took pictures of the graffiti that read B次元官网网址淜ill All Christans (sic) B次元官网网址� god is not real.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 very disturbing, especially for a lot of our older parishioners who have to walk by this thing to get into the church,B次元官网网址� Hodgins said. B次元官网网址淚n light of things like [the shooting in] Texas this last week, you hope itB次元官网网址檚 a harmless prank but who knows?B次元官网网址�
On Nov. 5 a 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, killing 26 people and injuring 20 others.
B次元官网网址淚 think the concern here is just given what kind of events are happening in the world these days, particularly the actual shooting in Texas of people in a church, that kind of hate speech B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 hate speech, thereB次元官网网址檚 no other word for it B次元官网网址� is particularly concerning,B次元官网网址� said Rev. Cari Copeman-Haynes, lead minister at Crossroads United Church.
B次元官网网址淵ou think about all the good this congregation is doing in the community B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 a pretty stark response to what we consider a positive presence for people who are struggling in our community.B次元官网网址�
The incident was the second time in a week that the church had been vandalized, with both incidents occurring on the exact same patch of the sanctuaryB次元官网网址檚 curved wall. However, Copeman-Haynes said, the previous incident was a smaller, more generic tagging.
B次元官网网址淓ven though we were trying valiantly to get it off of the concrete wall, it provided enough of an invitation to whoever this person was to really expand both the square footage and take the message in a way more malevolent direction,B次元官网网址� she said.
Copeman-Haynes has been a minister at Crossroads for nine years, and six before that when the congregation was known as St. JohnB次元官网网址檚-Strawberry Hill, and said sheB次元官网网址檚 never seen vandalism of this nature that at the church.
B次元官网网址淚 think there may have been more of the tagging kind of graffiti in that earlier era. Since weB次元官网网址檝e been Crossroads thereB次元官网网址檚 been nothing like that at all until this moment,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 indicative of the kind of polarization and intolerance and anxiety, for want of a better word, just generalized anxiety and blame that is kind of the public conversation.B次元官网网址�
Delta Police public affairs coordinator Sharlene Brooks said in an email that the vandalism at Crossroads appears to be an isolated incident, adding she couldnB次元官网网址檛 recall anything of a similar nature occurring in the recent past. Brooks said police have yet to identify any suspects but are monitoring to see if similar incidents occur elsewhere.
The paint used is sticking rather tenaciously to the raw concrete wall and Hodgins said heB次元官网网址檚 having a hard time removing the graffiti. On top of that, tape and the like donB次元官网网址檛 stay on the wall long, making it impossible to temporarily cover up the offending message.
Hodgins is waiting for an assessment from a professional graffiti removal company, but failing that the only remedy would be to paint over that part of the wall. Regardless, he said, getting rid of the graffiti will likely end up costing the church thousands of dollars.
B次元官网网址淧utting it in real terms itB次元官网网址檚 probably going to cost several of our community dinners B次元官网网址� not that weB次元官网网址檇 cancel the community dinners, but the cost will be equivalent to putting on at least one or two of them,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not a harmless prank; there are victims.B次元官网网址�
editor@northdeltareporter.com
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