Several demonstrators gathered outside a small Iowa church Sunday to protest a sign declaring, “Ditch Pride. Embrace Humility!” But the church’s pastor says the message was not intended to target anyone or spread hatred.
The demonstration took place outside Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Des Moines, where Pastor Michael Demastus said the sign was posted two days before the start of June to communicate what he believes is a central Christian teaching during a month when discussions of pride are highly visible in public life.
“The message was ... intentional that we're going to hear all of June all about pride,” Demastus told The Christian Post. “And the message of Christianity is the converse of that. I guess it's OK to say it inside of our walls, right? But as soon as you take a message like that outside of the walls, it is not received well.”
“The reality is Christ didn't just say it was a possibility, He promised. They hated me; they're going to hate you,” the church leader continued. “So any believer that lives out his faith in the public arena is going to be hated by the world. That's just a truism of being a person of faith who follows Jesus.”
According to Demastus, local activist Heather Ryan organized the protest, which he estimated drew about a dozen participants. He said demonstrators remained within the law but used bullhorns to shout at churchgoers arriving for worship services.
“They had bullhorns, and they were obscene, and they were loud, and they respected all the laws, but people in our church were driving into the parking lot, and they were yelling with their bullhorns at them, and just acting rather gross,” Demastus said.
Ryan told KCCI that she and her fellow protesters wanted to “come out and show [their] support for all of [their] friends and neighbors in the gay community.”
“We're out here fighting for values and decency and dignity for everybody. Everybody is welcome in the state of Iowa,” Ryan said.
Pastor Demastus told CP that the protest Sunday has only strengthened his resolve to keep the sign displayed throughout June.
“I'm going to keep it up all June now,” Demastus stated. “Because they're bullies, and the intent of something like that is to intimidate people so that they'll change their activities. ... I'm [not] going to be intimidated by a group of bullies like that. That's just not going to happen.”
Despite the tensions, Demastus said several members of the congregation brought doughnuts to the protesters, who accepted them. He also said the church prayed for the demonstrators during its worship service.
“Christ died for them. Christ loves them. Christ loves Heather Ryan. And we know that Heather Ryan doesn't know Christ, and she's lost; she doesn't understand that, but we love her in spite of her angst towards us,” he said.
The church also received several hostile phone calls following the protest, including one threatening call Monday. Demastus said local police identified the caller and contacted him.
“[The police] gave us the opportunity to press charges, which I showed him more grace than he showed us, but you know, we didn't press charges, but just trespassed him, and he was given a warning, and if he contacts us again, he'll be arrested,” Demastus explained.
The incident is not the first time Fort Des Moines Church of Christ has faced backlash over its public messaging regarding homosexuality.
In February 2012, the church faced backlash after displaying the title of one of Demastus’ sermons on its marquee: “Gay is not okay.” According to reports, the sign led to threats and vandalism targeting the church.
Demastus said the 2012 sermon came after repeated questions from congregants about what the Bible teaches regarding homosexuality. At the time, he paused a sermon series on the life of Moses to address the issue directly and placed the sermon title on the church sign in hopes of encouraging people to attend.
“I've learned since then that people interpreted the sentence or the phrase ‘Gay is not okay’ as ‘Gay people are not okay,’” he said. “And that wasn't the intent of the message. The point of the message was the gay lifestyle; choosing gayness is not okay.”
The pastor said that following the violent threats and vandalism in 2012, the congregation developed safety protocols and established a church safety team.
More than a decade later, Demastus said he finds it ironic that the church is once again facing criticism over a sign related to the topic of homosexuality. He emphasized that neither the 2012 sermon nor the current sign was intended to communicate hatred toward individuals.
“There's no hate involved in this. It's the message of the Gospel, is it not? To reject pride and embrace humility, that's who we are as a people,” the pastor stated.
This article was originally published in The Christian Post.
