Rainbow wrap vandals won't take away from church's message of LGBTQ inclusion

This week, vandals ripped down the rainbow wrapping from a tree in front of North Vancouver’s Gloria Dei Lutheran Church on Gladwin Drive.

But Rev. Vida Jaugelis says she’s not going to let that be the last word on inclusion of the LGBTQ community at the North Vancouver church.

“We will be putting the rainbow colours up again,” said Jaugelis. “We are not going to be deterred.”

Jaugelis said the North Vancouver church formally embraced becoming a welcoming church for members of the LGBTQ community a decade ago, following a decision from church leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada.

Men and women can be ordained as church ministers regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity and marriages between same-sex couples are blessed.

To celebrate that status, a small rainbow flag hung for many years from the pitched roof of the church entrance.

“The message is really to say the LGBTQ community is safe and welcomed in the church. And not judged,” said Jaugelis.

But over the years, it became weathered and less visible, said Jaugelis.

That’s when the office administrator for the church came up with an idea to go bigger and bolder with their message. Using plastic tablecloths in different colours, she put together a rainbow wrap for the trunk of the tree outside the church, which went up just two weeks ago, on May 13.

Response was immediate – and positive – said Jaugelis.

One same-sex couple driving past the church stopped to ask about the wrap. It turned out they were interested in finding a welcoming congregation.

The rainbow wrap stood without incident for two weeks. But on Wednesday, Jaugelis said she got a message from one of the same-sex families in her church who saw the wrap had been ripped down overnight.

Jaugelis said she has no way to know if the vandalism is specifically directed at the message of the rainbow wrap or more random. She’s reported the incident to police but has little expectation of identifying the vandals.

Since she posted a message on Facebook and a neighbourhood app about what happened, however, she’s been overwhelmed with messages of support from community members including one from a former pastor of another church who offered to contribute money for a replacement.

Jaugelis said she hasn’t had a chance to speak to the congregation yet, but said the rainbow will definitely be replaced, whether that’s with another tree wrap or a larger flag.

As part of an outdoor parking lot service this Sunday – the first in-person service being held since the lifting of COVID restrictions – Jaugelis said the congregation will be welcoming a same-sex family who have chosen to formally join the church.

That’s part of the reason for the rainbow, said Jaugelis. A church congregation may hold those values, but “nobody really knows unless you put it out there.”