Chicago-area church stands ground on sign after LGBT activists protest
A Chicago-area pastor is defending his church's digital messaging in defense of biblical sexuality and marriage after an LGBT activist group founded by a Democratic state official held a protest attended by dozens of people outside the church last Friday.
The protest at New Hope Community Church in Palatine was aimed at the church’s use of its electronic sign to display messages throughout the month of June such as “God invented marriage,” “Sex is objective reality” and “Ditch pride, embrace humility.”
The event drew dozens of protesters with rainbow flags and signs to the approximately 100-member church, including the Northwest Suburban Pride Network (NWS Pride), according to local ABC affiliate WLS-TV. The organization posted a flyer on social media announcing the protest.
The flyer for the “all ages” event featured the headline, “Real hope includes everyone” and accused New Hope Church of spreading “messages of division, confusion and hate” with its electronic display.
A Facebook post promoting the rally from a reported member of NWS Pride accused the church of “hateful messages on their electronic sign in front of the church,” which the group claimed were “targeting the [LGBT] community and the celebration of Pride Month.”
New Hope Community Church was previously affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention until 2021, when it became a non-denominational Evangelical congregation, according to Pastor James Pittman Jr.
After sharing a screenshot of a social media post with a composite of New Hope’s various digital displays from an NWS Pride activist, Pittman told CP he believes the protesters “had a problem with several of our signs” over the course of June, which LGBT activists typically celebrate as pride month.
“We use our sign to challenge the culture to think about eternity and hopefully get people to repent and turn to the Savior,” the pastor said. “The external groups think that they are free to say whatever they want but somehow churches should remain silent on issues in the culture. We disagree.”
NWS Pride was founded by Austin Mejdrich, who announced the formation of the Northwest Suburban Pride Action Fund in 2021 as a “non-partisan political action committee” dedicated to “elevating the civic voices” of LGBT-identified residents.
Mejdrich, who was the former Chief of Staff to State Sen. Mark Walker, is listed on the official website of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker as a legislative director for the state Department of Insurance.
He is also listed as a trustee for the board of Wheeling Township, a northwest suburb of Chicago, and is named as a member of the executive board for the Cook County Young Democrats.
Neither Mejdrich nor NWS Pride responded to requests for comment by CP as of Wednesday afternoon.
A Department of Insurance spokesperson was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Pittman said the same group “attacked” New Hope earlier this year when they went to the mayor and “asked him to force” the church to take down the sign.
“Credit to the mayor,” Pittman added. “He said we had a legal sign and that our sign is a First Amendment issue.”
The protest at New Hope comes less than six months after activists stormed Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, during a Sunday morning service. Former CNN host Don Lemon along with members of the Racial Justice Network and Black Lives Matter Minnesota interrupted the service to demand the resignation of a lay pastor who also works for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lemon recorded himself interviewing Cities Church Lead Pastor Jonathan Parnell at his pulpit, who calmly asked him to leave the building as Lemon attempted to grill him about the U.S. Constitution and Jesus.
While last Friday’s protest at New Hope Community Church did not extend into the church’s sanctuary, Pittman said he will continue to preach the Bible regardless of how it’s received.
“Our message to the LGBT community is ‘We love you enough to tell you the truth. Please repent and turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins’,” he added.
