DENVER, Colo. — This weekend three reverends of three different churches are coming together after their 'Black Lives Matter' banners were vandalized and stolen numerous times.
The Reverends of First Universalist Church, First Plymouth Congregational Church and First Unitarian Church told Denver7 vandals damaged their property shortly after George Floyd’s death.
“They stole the banner and then wrote on the windows ‘white lives matter,’ ‘all lives matter’ and sort of vandalized our windows,” Reverend Jenny Schultz-Thomas, Senior Pastor of First Plymouth Congregational Church, said
Reverend Mike Morran of First Unitarian Denver said his church’s first banner went up in 2015, but vandals threw red paint on it.
“Black Lives Matter 5280… actually showed up with about 20 people two days later and they brought a power washer and ladder and tried to clean up the sign,” Morran said. “We were not able to salvage that sign. We ended up replacing it and the next year right about the same time, right about October, it was vandalized again."
Just a few weeks ago, First Universalists’ banner was stolen, but Senior Developmental Minister at First Universalist Church of Denver Reverend Elaine Peresluha said they will continue replacing stolen and vandalized banners.
“You can do whatever you want to our banner, but it’s staying up. It will be replaced over and over again,” Peresluha said.
On Saturday Oct. 2, all three churches will come together to rehang First Universalists’ 'Black Lives Matter' banner.
Morran, Schultz-Thomas and Peresluha told Denver7 their church members have rallied behind all of them and raised money to create a fund in order to make sure the banners stay up.