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 sa国际传媒淜ill All Christans (sic) sa国际传媒� god is not real.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 very disturbing, especially for a lot of our older parishioners who have to walk by this thing to get into the church,sa国际传媒� Hodgins said. sa国际传媒淚n light of things like [the shooting in] Texas this last week, you hope itsa国际传媒檚 a harmless prank but who knows?sa国际传媒�
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.
sa国际传媒淚 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 sa国际传媒� itsa国际传媒檚 hate speech, theresa国际传媒檚 no other word for it sa国际传媒� is particularly concerning,sa国际传媒� said Rev. Cari Copeman-Haynes, lead minister at Crossroads United Church.
sa国际传媒淵ou think about all the good this congregation is doing in the community sa国际传媒� itsa国际传媒檚 a pretty stark response to what we consider a positive presence for people who are struggling in our community.sa国际传媒�
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 sanctuarysa国际传媒檚 curved wall. However, Copeman-Haynes said, the previous incident was a smaller, more generic tagging.
sa国际传媒淓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,sa国际传媒� she said.
Copeman-Haynes has been a minister at Crossroads for nine years, and six before that when the congregation was known as St. Johnsa国际传媒檚-Strawberry Hill, and said shesa国际传媒檚 never seen vandalism of this nature that at the church.
sa国际传媒淚 think there may have been more of the tagging kind of graffiti in that earlier era. Since wesa国际传媒檝e been Crossroads theresa国际传媒檚 been nothing like that at all until this moment,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 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.sa国际传媒�
Delta Police public affairs coordinator Sharlene Brooks said in an email that the vandalism at Crossroads appears to be an isolated incident, adding she couldnsa国际传媒檛 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 hesa国际传媒檚 having a hard time removing the graffiti. On top of that, tape and the like donsa国际传媒檛 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.
sa国际传媒淧utting it in real terms itsa国际传媒檚 probably going to cost several of our community dinners sa国际传媒� not that wesa国际传媒檇 cancel the community dinners, but the cost will be equivalent to putting on at least one or two of them,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 not a harmless prank; there are victims.sa国际传媒�
editor@northdeltareporter.com
Like us on and follow us on
