Leaders of an Overland Park church that has long displayed a banner welcoming members of the LGBTQ+ community say they are not deterred by the continuous vandalism and theft of the sign.
Indian Heights United Methodist Church, located at 10211 Nall Ave., began displaying the rainbow-patterned banner that says “All Are Welcome” on its lawn in 2019. Over the years, the church has had to replace it multiple times because it has been torn down, slashed in half, ripped and stolen in broad daylight.
Most recently, someone slashed the sign into several pieces in mid-September. Then, just this past Sunday, Pastor Ali Haynes discovered that a replacement banner had been stolen once again. Video from a trail camera the church put up showed someone taking the sign in the middle of the night.
But Haynes said the church and its congregation — though disheartened — will not be dissuaded from continuing to replace and display the banner.
“There’s so much hate and division in our world that a banner that’s supposed to offer hope and welcome to people who have otherwise been oppressed and shut out of the church causes others so much anger that they steal it or rip it down or cut it up,” Haynes said.
Indian Heights United Methodist welcomes ‘all people’
The banner Indian Heights United Methodist Church displays on its lawn started out as a declaration of the congregation’s inclusivity and acceptance of LGBTQ+ churchgoers.
“Our church made a statement that we are on the side of inclusion,” Haynes said. “For our church, it’s more of a sign to just say, ‘You belong here, you’re not going to be treated differently here, you’re going to be welcomed.’”
When the original banner went up in 2019, the broader United Methodist Church was in the middle of a schism over its policies regarding LGBTQ+ clergy and members. That dispute eventually resulted in several thousand congregations breaking off from the church to form their own denomination, called the Global Methodist Church.
The new denomination sought to uphold bans on LGBTQ+ clergy and same-sex marriage, while the remaining congregations in the United Methodist Church looked to loosen those doctrines and formally eliminated them in 2024.
However, Haynes said the banner is about more than inviting members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“It’s that all people — all races, ages, orientations — all are welcome at the table of God. All are welcome in the church,” she said. “We are not the ones to decide who’s in and who’s out, because God says everyone is welcome.”
Police are investigating the church sign vandalism and theft
Haynes said the police have been alerted to the ongoing issues with the “All Are Welcome” banners at Indian Heights.
In the most recent incidents at least, Haynes said responding officers suggested that the vandalism and theft could be taken as “a bias against the LGBTQ community.”
That could mean there is potential evidence of a hate crime, though ultimately prosecutors would make that determination.
“We have possibly identified one person of interest, however these incidents are still under investigation,” said Officer John Lacy, the Overland Park Police Department’s public information officer, in an email to the Post. “We are working with the church and conducting extra patrol in that area as duty permits.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, no charges had been filed in connection with the vandalism or theft.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
