KOGO News

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Church Raising Money after Recent Vandalism

SAN DIEGO - An LGBT affirming Christian congregation in Bay Park is raising money to help pay for repairs after its campus was recently vandalized.

The Metropolitan Community Church is asking the greater San Diego community for help with paying their $2,500 insurance deductible after a man broke windows and damaged a door at the church campus. The violent incident was caught on security video.

"The sheer vandalism and the anger that was exhibited in the middle of the night was just sad to witness," said Pastor Dan Koeshall.

Authorities have identified the man seen in the security video, Koeshall added.

The campus has seen vandalism before and church members have been subjected to slurs and threats in the past.

"Unfortunately we've had people driving by yelling out slurs and derogatory comments," said Koeshall. "Even to the context of what happened in Colorado Springs, you're next."

The pastor says location has nothing to do with it, that churches in Hillcrest and other areas have also been vandalized in recent months. KOGO News is waiting for a response from San Diego Police and the San Diego County Sheriff's Department about recent crimes against houses of worship.

Koeshall believes the uptick in violence against faith communities is because hate speech has been allowed to flourish and because of people's own fears of the LGBT community.

"I know that when people have come into this church, sometimes we've heard 'what does a gay church look like?" said Koeshall. "It's just like every other church, there's wonderful people."

The church has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with paying the insurance deductible.

MCC San Diego

Photo: The Metropolitan Community Church - San Diego


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