Church members feel threatened after LGBTQ flag burned twice, harassing voicemails left, N.J. pastor says

The pastor of a church in Sussex County says a portion of his congregation has felt bullied since the beginning of the year, when vandals began setting fire to the LBGTQ+ flag in front of the building and leaving harassing messages on the house of worship’s voicemail. “It is a rainbow flag, we are an open congregation, and we welcome all people,” the Rev. Steve Bechtold told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday. “But that’s not popular with some people and we get criticism about that,” Bechtold said. Bechtold is pastor of the Sparta United Methodist Church in Sparta. He said the flag was first burned l…

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