07/11/2005

Associated Press

Federal investigators concluded a fire at a church vandalized with anti-gay grafitti was set.

"It's an arson. We're confident on that," Bart McEntire, resident agent in charge at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in southwest Virginia, said Monday.

The fire was set Saturday within St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ. The anti-gay graffiti included a message that members of the United Church of Christ were sinners.

July 4, the United Church of Christ endorsed a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage. The resolution was not binding on the denomination's 1.3 million members.

St. John's pastor, the Rev. Dorcas Lohr, said her congregation has not taken a position on gay marriage.

Firefighters who quickly snuffed the fire removed a stack of burned hymnals. A portion of the choir loft and a pew were also damaged, and the church sustained smoke damage. There were no injuries.

The FBI, ATF and Virginia State Police have been involved in the investigation.

"We are looking at it has a potential civil rights violation," said Lawrence Barry, spokesman for the Richmond office of the FBI.

Despite the fire, Lohr delivered her sermon Sunday to about 90 people gathered beneath tents and the shade of two pin oak trees. The Shenandoah Valley congregation is celebrating its 225 anniversary.

Of the condemnations scrawled on the church, Lohr said, "I cannot accept that judgment. Nor do I think any member of this congregation can accept that judgment."

Lohr reminded members of the congregation's roots as a German reform church and its historic opposition to slavery and support of civil rights.

"Much more important than the structure of our building is the structure of our life together as God's children," she said.

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On the Net:

United Church of Christ: http://www.ucc.org

ATF: http://www.atf.gov/

540 885-2107

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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch