VANCOUVER, BC: Anglican Church sign vandalised
By David of Samizdat
https://anglicansamizdat.com/
April 19, 2019
In the Diocese of New Westminster, vandals changed St. Alban's church sign to read "BE GAY AND HORNY".
There isn't anything particularly surprising or shocking about this: by today's standards of ubiquitous scatological, profane and four-letter obscenities that pepper much of what passes for speech today, it is positively benign.
St. Alban's blesses same sex marriage and has had a lesbian priest, so the sign is not out of character for the church. Indeed, it qualifies as a suitable epitaph to be inscribed on the tombstone of the Anglican Church of Canada once it has fully expired.
The diocesan communications officer, Randy Murry, seems to approve of the sentiment; he expressed admiration for the sign's "pithiness".
I'll leave to your imagination the reaction we would have seen if the scrabble addict had added another word and the sign had read: "DON'T BE GAY AND HORNY". No I won't. At the urging of the bishop, the diocesan communications officer would be lamenting the presence of a homophobic bully in the neighbourhood and report the incident as a hate crime.
From here: https://www.tricitynews.com/news/pranked-richmond-church-sign-elicits-laughs-1.23796142
A church sign in Richmond that read "be gay and horny" last weekend got community members laughing after someone broke in and rearranged the letters.
The sign, at St. Alban Anglican Church near Granville Ave. and No. 3 Road, was broken into sometime on Friday night and the cheeky message was there for all to see on Saturday morning.
"Oh my god, it was so funny," said Dina Morgan, who drove by the sign while dropping her kids off at the SkyTrain station.
"The minute my little one, who is gay, said it, (they) started squealing in the back seat."
Morgan's kids made her stop and take a picture on the way home, and the image made rounds on social media over the weekend.
Randy Murray, communications officer with the Diocese of New Westminster, said the sign casing was locked, but someone was able to break in.
The prankster switched the letters around, and took out the extra ones. The missing letters have not been returned.
"You've got to admire its pithiness," Murray said of the message.
St. Alban's previously had an openly gay female minister, and blesses marriage ceremonies between same-sex couples. It's now changed its sign back to display the regular Holy Week message.