Like many United Church of Christ churches, Beavercreek UCC in Clackamas County, Oregon includes everyone, and the sign in front of their building proclaims “LGBTQ+ welcome,” and it often has banners flying stating their Open & Affirming stance. The Rev. Coqui Conkey, who has been serving as the “supply” or interim pastor there since this past March, believes they were targeted because of this when three historic stained glass windows were broken by vandals on a Friday night in June, which is celebrated as Pride Month.
Damage to a stained glass window at Beavercreek UCC.
Security video shows a car pulling up to the church around 9 p.m. on June 13, and a shadowy male figure can be made out but not clearly identified. “Someone intentionally threw bricks and rocks at these windows, breaking the plate glass that protected the stained glass, but also causing some damage to the historic windows themselves,” said Conkey. “The windows orginally came from a church in Germany in the 1800s, and they are now being repaired.”
One of the bricks used in the attack.
The church stands about an hour southeast of the city of Portland, in a very rural area. And while this is upsetting to congregants, including moderator Cynthia Andrews, they agree they won’t let this kind of thing shake their commitment. “We are a progressive church in a conservative area,” said Andrews. “It’s important for us to say we’re not giving in or giving up to those who would do us violence. They can’t silence our voice.”
UCC Beavercreek Moderator Cynthia Andrews, a church member for 35 years.
An email went out from Central Pacific Conference Minister Rev. Tyler Connoley, titled “Sweeping up the glass and picking up the peace.” It let recipients know that the church was not disheartened by the violence, and a news story that ran on a local television station actually had a positive effect.
Connoley wrote about the church’s reaction, saying “They saw this vandalism as an opportunity to amplify their prophetic voice. The reason many of you have heard about the event is because two Portland TV stations picked up the story. And the story on Channel 12 had an amazing, unexpected ripple effect. Later that week, one of our other Oregon churches had a new visitor at a midweek Bible study. The visitor said, ‘I saw the story about the UCC church in Clackamas County, and I was horrified by the vandalism, but I was also impressed by the church’s message of love and inclusion. I wanted a church like that, so I found you.’”
Supply Pastor Rev. Coqui Conkey.
Conkey said, “We had a peace protest scheduled in our parking lot that Saturday morning, and when people arrived they found the damage. So, they swept up some of the glass, and went out to the parking lot with their signs. We weren’t going to let that stop us.” The church had been targeted in the past–their signs and banners had been damaged, but they just keep repairing them and putting them up.
Congregants showed up on a Saturday for a local protest and found the damage to the church windows.
The church has approximately 70 members, and a typical Sunday will find 40 or so at the church worshipping. Conkey said that there are more than a handful who relate as LGBTQ+, including herself, and some of their youth.
Andrews chimed in, “We have several youth in transition and it’s kind of funny, you know, teens will often pull away from the church during those those years, and and we don’t have an active teen program because there’s not enough of them. But the father of one of those teens recently told me that his child still considers this their church, and we will continue to be there for them.”
Beavercreek UCC celebrates Pride all year long.
Beavercreek UCC has plans to participate in the Oregon City Pride Fair, coming up in September. It’s their second time being a part of the event. “We had our first booth last year, and it was very successful,” said Andrews.
Conkey shared that their church is important to the surrounding area and residents. “This is the location of a certified food shelf for the community. So if someone is in a different place than we are politically or socially, they may still come to us for help. And every year we have a gigantic rummage sale as a community event, and we get people from all over. Many who aren’t members of our chuch come to this, and some are surprised when they find out how progressive we are. And I think that it’s just an important way that this little church helps people in this conservative community, in this oppressive atmosphere that we’re living in currently.”
“It’s a different type of mission work,” continued Conkey, “it’s a subtle way to spread the word. We are missionairies in our own community. We are known as the ‘liberal beacon on the hill.’”
The investigation into the vandalism continues.
A message on the church’s website says, “We want to thank our Beavercreek neighbors for the many emails, phone messages and offers of financial gifts following the recent vandalism at our church. We are deeply touched by your support. Although appalled by this demonstration of violence, we feel blessed knowing that many in our community stand with us and our message of love, acceptance and inclusion. If you’d like to support our recovery efforts but aren’t sure how, please reach out to us at beavercreekucc@gmail.com, or donate.”
Sheriff’s deputies continue to investigate, and no one has been arrested in the incident.
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