On Sunday morning, October 3rd, members of North Bethesda United Methodist Church and other passersby discovered that the church sign (which called for prayerful support of Afghan refugees) had been defaced with white supremacist graffiti. We learned from police that similar words and symbols were found on walls at Walter Johnson High School that morning.

Our first concern is for the emotional, spiritual, and physical safety of our community members and neighbors of color, whose experience of seeing or hearing of the graffiti may have been triggering or traumatic. We recognize that, while all of our community members likely feel righteous anger, the violation of sacred space with targeted hate speech is linked to more personal pain for people belonging to groups that have been and are systematically terrorized or oppressed.

North Bethesda UMC is a proudly international congregation, and we value the diversity of the entire community and surrounding congregations. We center the voices of our members and neighbors who said they feel afraid, vulnerable, or singled out; we hear and honor your pain, and we grieve beside you. Our priority in any collective denouncement of hate speech goes to the needs and dignity of those who are most directly impacted. We will not reprint or re-broadcast the words or symbols. We will always work together to remove hateful graffiti as quickly as possible and replace it with stronger messages of anti-racism and unafraid love. We will continue to examine the ways our biases, practices, and risk-averse avoidance of hard conversations contribute to a culture where hate speech and racism remain so prevalent.

The teachings of our varied but interconnected faiths compel us to repent and work for restoration, while also giving us a basis for unwavering hope in the face of what seems overwhelming. God is in the midst of pain, on the side of the oppressed, and moving us toward community wholeness and healing. We are not alone. And for that we give thanks.

Rev. Kara Scroggins, on behalf of North Bethesda United Methodist Church

Rev. Dr. Laura Norvell, on behalf of Faith United Methodist Church, Rockville

Rev. Martha Meredith, on behalf of Rockville United Methodist Church