ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — At the Allendale United Methodist Church, the Reverend Andy Oliver says they welcome everyone with messages on their sign supporting Muslims, Black Lives Matter, and the LGBTQ community.
“Because of that, we get a few negative calls a week. People are very angry,” said the reverend.
Now he says that anger may have turned into vandalism. Someone threw a brick through the sign.
At the time, it had a quote from civil rights leader John Lewis.
“The work we do is dangerous, And anytime someone stands in solidarity with those that are being oppressed, they might face a bit of their oppression,” said Oliver.
Thursday, the revered put up a new message.
It now reads, “To our sign vandalizer: You are forgiven! Join us in Tikkun Olam. Repairing the world!”
Tikkun Olam is a Jewish concept defined by acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair the world.
The church has started aGoFundMe pageto help repair the sign.
St. Petersburg police say they have no evidence that this is any kind of hate crime.
