State College Church Vandalized with Anti-Religious Messages

Park Forest Baptist Church in Patton Township was the target of a nasty vandalism spree overnight. All four church walls and a church bus were splattered with spray-painted anti-religious slogans, leaving the grounds an utter mess.

Congregation members, armed with gallons of Goof Off spent most of the day scrubbing away the offensive messages.

Investigators believe the incident occurred sometime between Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning.

Pastor Jim Nolton says he has “no idea” who could have done this to the church.

“We’ve really tried to emphasize a positive church ministry here,” Nolton said. “The only reason I can think of is that this was a random thing. All the graffiti was anti-God. They had to have a pretty good anti-God, anti-religious bias to trigger an act like this.”

Fortunately, elbow grease and solvents seem to be removing the graffiti fairly easily. Church member Heidi Walker said, “That’s sad. I’ve got better things to do then spray-paint a church.” She adds, removing the paint isn’t particularly hard work. In fact, Walker says, “This is fun.”

“We’re getting there. We’ve gotten most of the paint off,” Nolton said. “The congregation has reacted very positively. We don’t have any bitterness or (anger) toward the perpetrators. If anything, we’re praying for them.”

Nolton said that the police have a “couple small leads” but haven’t found the vandals yet. Park Forest Baptist was broken into and burglarized two months ago, along with several other local churches, but those responsible are incarcerated and had no way of doing this, Nolton said.

“I can’t think of anybody that we might have offended,” Nolton said. “If I could talk to the people who did this, I would tell them a story from many years ago that I was probably the type of person who would have done this kind of thing, until coming to faith with Jesus Christ changed the course of my whole life. I just hope that they can discover that transition and purpose in life.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the Patton Township Police Department at 800-479-0050. The officer investigating the case could not be reached for comment.

Watch our video of the church vandalism: