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| GRAND RAPIDS -- Leaders at Fountain Street Church were at a loss for words Sunday after custodial staff arrived to find piles of feces outside each of the building's doors, accompanied by conservative Christian booklets and fliers. The Rev. Matthew Cockrum said staff members immediately cleaned up the mess -- which included raw eggs that had been thrown against the building -- but did not call police because they were preparing for morning services. He worries it won't be the last instance of vandalism. Already, Cockrum said, a "peace pole" outside the church at 24 Fountain St. NE has been uprooted several times and thrown into the road. The striped pole has a rainbow of colors, including black and white, to represent its support of diversity. Church officials since have cemented it into the ground. "It's not uncommon to have a flier or two somewhere in the building after we've been open a day," he said. Cockrum said the church invites other ethnic groups in the community to use its building for their religious celebrations. "We're a non-creedal church, so we have folks of all different faiths," he said. A telephone line offers women struggling with an unexpected pregnancy the financial support to take steps in handling it. He fears some of those efforts may be misunderstood, leading to the vandalism. Cockrum said he has heard offensive references to Fountain Street Church as "a church that performs abortions." Others have called it "that gay Muslim church," he said. |
