“I mean, this is literally five minutes before worship,” Bechtold said.
When they went looking, they found it on the lawn burnt to a crisp. Reverend Steven Bechtold was on his way to deliver Sunday mass when two of the church’s newest members - an LGBTQ couple - noticed the flag was down.
The nylon flag was left a charred, melted mess. On the night of New Years’ Day, someone drove onto the property of Sussex County’s Sparta United Methodist Church and lit their rainbow pride flag on fire.