To the editor:

With all that is happening in the world, and even right here in Marshall — the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing racial justice concerns, I struggle to understand why St. James Episcopal Church in Marshall displaying a PRIDE flag is of such concern to someone that they are compelled to repeatedly remove the flag from our church railing. I also fail to understand what is meant to be accomplished by removing our flag.

We are, by most standards, a small faith community. However, while we may be small in numbers, we have large hearts that are committed to following the Way of Jesus. At the very core of this is following the commandment of Jesus, “Love thy neighbor.” We understand this to be every neighbor.

We believe that all people are children of God, made in God’s own image. To love and accept each person is to love God.

Just as our displaying the PRIDE flag on our property is an outward sign that we are followers of Jesus, accepting and loving our LGBTQ+ neighbors, I would like this open letter to be taken as an outward sign that we also love and accept the person or persons that steal our flags.

We would never presume to tell you that you must change your beliefs, but we would ask that you, also, allow us to follow ours. We have replaced our flag, again, and ask that you allow it to remain displayed on our property.

To the members of the LGBTQ+ community and those who support them, we love you and God loves you. To those that cannot support them, that’s OK, we love you and God loves you. To those who would steal our flags, you, too, are loved.

Perhaps, if we all focused more on accepting and loving our neighbors, these challenging times could be easier to get through.

The Rev. Dawnlynn Greeney

The Rev. Dawnlynn Greeney is a deacon at St. James Episcopal Church in Marshall