Three Saskatoon churches spray painted with homophobic slurs

One act can have a significant ripple effect says McClure United Church Reverend Debra Berg. On Sunday, she was enjoying a Mother’s Day breakfast when the executive director of McClure Place called her and asked her to head over to the church next door to it.

When she got there, she saw bright orange spray paint in two areas.

“Indeed, the church had been vandalized. Both of our main doors, one to the sanctuary and one to the main offices had been spray painted with bright orange paint with a homophobic slur on those doors.”

Through social media, Berg says she also discovered that Grosvenor Park United Church and St. Andrew’s College at the University of Saskatchewan had also been vandalized in a similar manner.

“It’s a stark reminder that there’s still work to do around creating places of welcome and care for the LGBT plus community,” she explained.

While she says it’s hard to know what the motivation for the vandalism was, she believes it could be because all three churches are all affirming places within the United Church (Affirm United). They offer public, intentional and explicit welcome to the LGBTQIA+ and Two Spirit Communities.

The act is one that will affect many people in different ways, says Berg, and will take some time to get over.

According to a statement on the St. Andrew’s College Facebook page, the vandalism is extremely concerning, and something that the wider community should take seriously.

Berg says the graffiti has since been erased.

“Boy, it sure felt good to get in there with a scrub brush and some good old cleaner, and scrub away the mess that had been created. There was certainly a healing in that for me.”

According to Saskatoon police, officers were called around 11:45 p.m. May 9 to help with an arrest made by University of Saskatchewan Protective Services, after a man allegedly spray painted a building in the 100 block of College Drive, and a church in the 400 Block of Cumberland Ave.

A 36-year-old man has been charged in connection with those incidents. On May 10, police were once again called to the McClure United Church for another report of graffiti. A statement from Saskatoon Police does not indicate whether the same person may also be tied to the third incident.

In the meantime, Berg hopes residents and anyone affected take part in a show of community support.

“We’re inviting folks to take some sidewalk chalk and just put messages of love out there into the world for all people.”