As Sunday approaches, six Gainesville churches have prepared their congregations for out-of-town visitors who plan to protest on city property just outside the church buildings.
Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas - known for its outspoken protests against the LGBTQ community, Jews, Orthodox Christians, American soldiers and others - placed Gainesville on its picket schedule in mid January. The group plans a series of protests from 8 until 11 a.m. on Sunday, February 3 before moving on to Atlanta for a demonstration outside Mercedes Benz Stadium for the Super Bowl.
At least one group of counter-demonstrators has announced plans to be in Gainesville, as well. Indivisible Lumpkin has coordinated what it calls a peaceful protest to counter any messaging from Westboro members.
"We will NOT engage with WBC members in any way," states a message on the group's Facebook page. "No profanity or vulgar language on signs - this WILL be during church services and we do not want to disrespect their service."
The Gainesville Police Department said it is taking pre-emptive actions to ensure all parties are safe during the scheduled demonstration times, although police are not talking about details of their safety plans.
"Our role in the event is to make certain that all parties are safe while they express their First Amendment rights. We have been actively engaged in communication with organizers," said Sgt. Kevin Holbrook in an email statement this week.
The leaders of the half dozen churches on the picket schedule have met with police to discuss safety plans.
FIRST BAPTIST GAINESVILLE
The first stop on the picket schedule is First Baptist Gainesville on Green Street.
Dr. Kent Murphey, Executive Pastor of Administration, said in addition to the safety measures city police will have in place, the church has hired two city marshals to act as security inside the church.
"FBC is not planning any outside, church response to Westboro or any other group on Feb 3. We hope our members will not engage with any picketers, in any way," Murphey said in an email statement. "We plan to continue our usual schedule of Worship Services, first at 8:30 AM in our Chapel, and 10:50 AM in our Sanctuary. Our church digital sign will include the phrase 'We are here to Worship!' with our Worship Schedule, Speaker and Sermon Title."
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH GAINESVILLE
First Presbyterian Church Gainesville is one of three churches on Enota Drive on the Westboro schedule.
Senior Pastor Lee Koontz said he communicated verbally with the congregation at the annual congregational meeting on Jan. 27; he also emailed the membership.
"I mentioned that our attention is a finite resource, and I believe that God calls us to be good stewards of our attention just as God calls us to be good stewards of our time, talents, and money," Koontz told AccessWDUN. "This Sunday we have the opportunity to dedicate our attention to God by hearing the stories of love and transformation that our missionaries will be telling during our World Mission Conference. We dedicate our attention to God by listening to them and supporting them, not by giving it to protesters or their messages of hate."
Koontz said church leadership has instructed members to ignore the protesters.
GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
The Rev. Dr. Stuart Higginbotham is the rector of Grace Episcopal Church.
He said when he learned of the planned Westboro protest he asked himself a question - "How am I going to handle this in the most productive and compassionate way?"
Higginbotham said the church will team up with the Humane Society of Northeast Georgia for a community food drive on Sunday, hoping to turn an uncomfortable situation into a positive for Gainesville.
Higginbotham said Grace already has a security team and team members have formulated a plan to get congregants in and out of the building safely. They'll also rely on the Gainesville Police Department to provide additional safety for their membership.
Other churches on the picket schedule are St. John Baptist Church, St. Michael Catholic Church and Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2019/2/759023/law-enforcement-local-churches-are-prepared-for-westboro-picketing-on-sunday