David_42
Registered Democrat.
- Aug 9, 2015
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Great story 
Vandals Desecrate Church With Homophobic Graffiti. So The Church Fixed It With A Rainbow.
Vandals Desecrate Church With Homophobic Graffiti. So The Church Fixed It With A Rainbow.
Wedgewood Church in Charlotte, North Carolina isn’t shy about its progressive beliefs. Its websiteincludes a banner that reads “Wedgewood — A Liberal Church,” the congregation actively opposed North Carolina’s ban on same-sex marriage, and the community lists respecting LGBT people, members of other religions, and atheists as a “core beliefs.” So it wasn’t all that surprising when leaders added the phrase “LGBT Equality” to the church sign earlier this month.
But on August 20, parishioners woke to find their church emblazoned with a very different message: Hastily-applied spray paint obscured the sign’s call for inclusivity, and the sanctuary door was marred with large, black letters that read, “Fags are Pedos.”
CREDIT: WEDGEWOOD CHURCH
Chris Ayers, the church’s pastor, said his heart dropped when he saw the damage.
“As a pastor I thought about all of the stories of rejection I’ve heard [from LGBT people] over the years,” Ayers, who blogs under the name “Liberal Rev,” told ThinkProgress. “That vandalism was a symbol of all of that negative stuff.”
Ayers called the incident “heart-piercing,” but noted that the church was also vandalized seven years ago, when someone broke into the church sign and rearranged the letters to read “A Lesbo Church.”
Instead of wallowing in frustration, however, Ayers and Wedgewood — which is affiliated with the left-leaning United Church of Christ and the American Baptist Churches USA — turned the incident into a chance to make their church an even brighter beacon for LGBT equality. Just two days after the incident, the congregation gathered to worship, remove the messages, and repaint the door — as a giant rainbow flag.
“We didn’t want the focus to be on the damage to our church property, but on the damage that has been done to LGBT Christians through systematic abuse from so many — and, sadly, from so many denominations and Christians,” he said.
CREDIT: WEDGEWOOD CHURCH
A worship service was designed to commemorate the painting project, including hymns such as “We Will Not Be Moved” and recitations of quotes such as “May the swords of vandalism be turned into plowshares of dialogue, understanding, and reconciling love.” Jim DeMaine, a gay member of the church who Ayers said was both “an art major and offensive lineman for Elon University,” volunteered to help direct the art project.
