by Ben Johnson
- Thu Apr 26, 2012
“Upon arriving at the church, we discovered nine separate windows had been smashed in with rocks, including two beautiful 100-year-old stained glass windows,” wrote Tim Smith, pastor of the Portland campus of Mars Hill Church. “We estimate the damage to be several thousand dollars.”
The vandals sent an e-mail to local television station KOIN-TV stating they took the action, because “Mars Hill is notoriously anti-gay and anti-woman.”
Church members say they hold to “traditional Bible-based views on homosexuality.”
Eyewitnesses told police they saw six young men wearing “dark, mask-like partial face coverings” flee the scene around 2:30 a.m.
“This certainly saddens us greatly as our pastors in Portland have made many efforts to build relationships with the homosexual community in Portland,” Smith said. “Even though they chose to destroy our property and scare away people trying to worship Jesus, we wish them no harm.”
The Oregonian reported “black-clad demonstrators…some of whom wore kerchiefs to cover their faces, shouted profanities at adults and children” last October, when the new campus of the Seattle-based church opened. About 20 protesters blocked the entrance and screamed, “Shame on you homophobes. You’re not welcome here. You’re going to burn in Hell.”
The Portland location of Mars Hill Church opened last September, one of 14 nationwide satellites under nationally known pastor Mark Driscoll of Seattle. The church postponed its opening last September after learning LGBT activists planned a “kiss-in” at their first ceremony. . . . . [Read the whole LifeSite News article and see the video "Church Vandalized" accompanying the article.]