Dear Chelsea Community:
We are writing to report a crime to the greater Chelsea community, because it affects each and every one of us.
The rainbow banner hanging on the front of St Paul United Church of Christ was violently slashed on June 17, 2023. The three slashes were made by some sort of very sharp tool or weapon as the slashes are straight and clean. It was a purposeful destruction of property and desecration of a house of worship. The community should be outraged by this.
The freedom of speech and the freedom of religion are sacred to our Nation. No act of violence is acceptable, and willful destruction of property is criminal. Similar to the recent reports of stolen rainbow (aka “PRIDE”) flags in Chelsea this raises the question, “What is the City of Chelsea doing to stop crime in its neighborhoods?”
Not much as far as we are concerned.
This targeted criminal behavior must be stopped, and the best way to do this is for “we the people” to speak up. Someone driving on Old US-12 may have seen a person in front of my church messing with the banner. Please report it.
Flying a flag is a manner of communicating (thus speech) one’s beliefs. Whether it is “don’t tread on me” or a rainbow, citizens in our county by law are allowed to express themselves in this manner. Similarly, St Paul UCC has the protected right to decide (which we did by study and vote) to be “Open and Affirming” to ALL people. The rainbow banner was one way we communicated this.
If you don’t agree with treating all people equally you may decide not to attend our church. The stealing and destruction of symbols does NOTHING to change the hearts and minds of the people displaying them. We would argue, it makes us MORE DETERMINED to voice our stance.
We appreciate that the Chelsea Police Department is taking these crimes very seriously. They are hate crimes, pure and simple. Don’t kid yourself that it will stop here. Our community is in danger, and we need to protect it from those focusing on hatred.
Sincerely,
Concerned members of St Paul United Church of Christ
Judy and Steve Gentz
Sheri and Doug Hillman
Yolonda Johnson
Barbara Brown-Zikmund
Johanna Kruse
Jeff Parsons
Steve Whitesall
Pastor Eric Stricklin
Martina Grenier-Nabozny
