Members of Grace Episcopal Church in Randolph, N.Y., recently had their building tagged with the words "Can I still get into heaven if I kill myself?"
Rather than paint over the graffiti, the congregants let it stay and spray-painted their own response: "God loves you with no exceptions!"
While some have criticized the church members, they should be commended for seizing the opportunity to reach out.
Churches too often move into neighborhoods and do nothing to affect those around them. Christians sometimes forget that a primary focus should be on the people outside our churches.
More than two years ago, our church moved to Kearns and built a new edifice amid hundreds of homes. The area is sometimes marred by gang activity. Several times during construction, our building was tagged with gang symbols. After repainting the walls for the fourth time, it dawned on us that we needed to show our neighbors that it was not us vs. them; we intended to be part of the community. As a gesture of trust, we removed our fence. We staged free family events on our lawn and distributed food and clothing.
More here-
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/lifestyle/56739701-80/church-churches-corey-hodges.html.csp
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