Teen suspect ID'd in theft of Pride flag at First Baptist Church
WORCESTER — For almost a decade, First Baptist Church in Worcester has flown a rainbow flag as a symbol of welcome for the LGBT community, a group that many churches have historically excluded.
Over the course of three weeks in 2023, that flag was stolen twice, setting in motion a Police Department investigation that eventually identified a teenage suspect.
At First Baptist, the prevailing attitude was not anger but hope for reconciliation.
Neither Worcester police nor a spokesperson from District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.’s office could publicly confirm any details of the case, as the accused is a minor.
First Baptist Church seasonal minister The Rev. Katherine Blaisdell said the teen is from a neighboring town.
First Baptist Church traditionally holds a Pride weekend service the day after Worcester’s Pride parade, welcoming LGBT Christians from across Massachusetts for a morning of prayer. At the 2023 Pride weekend service, on Sept. 10, the pews were full.
“There were people there who had not been in a church for a long time,” First Baptist Church moderator Sarah Sams said.
Afterwards, churchgoers on their way out noticed something conspicuously missing from the church’s sign on Park Avenue: the Pride flag.
“My first response was, 'Let's go get another flag,'” Sams said. “There had been a lot of publicity about our Pride service, and I had a mild concern that our church was being targeted.”
Blaisdell said when the church first began flying a rainbow Pride flag, it disappeared from its pole multiple times, prompting the church to buy several backup Pride flags in case of another theft. However, the pattern slowed and eventually ceased, until September.
Members of the church checked security camera footage to see a figure hopping out of a pickup truck, snatching the flag and flagpole away from the church sign, and climbing back into the vehicle, which drove away.
During the Pride service, the church’s main phone line had also received a voicemail from an anonymous passer-by who said they saw the theft and wrote down the pickup truck’s license plate number.
“The Pride flag was stolen during our Pride service, and I think that was happenstance, but it felt intentional in that moment,” Blaisdell said. “This go-round was particularly remarkable.”
Church leadership filed a report with the Worcester Police Department, found a new flagpole and raised one of the church’s identical extra flags, and business continued as usual for three weeks.
On Oct. 1, the flag disappeared again.
Security camera footage showed the same pickup truck and the same passenger from Sept. 10, once again removing the flag from the sign and driving away.
“The fact that (the theft) repeated made me concerned that it was the start of something more, especially with the timing,” First Baptist Church director of operations and communications Ray Stemplys said.
The church contacted police again, this time with more urgency. Stemplys showed the security footage to officers and Blaisdell sat down to discuss the issue with the Rev. Jonathan Slavinskas of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, who serves as police chaplain for the WPD.
“No one wants hate within a community, especially when it can lead to violence and physical altercations,” Slavinskas said. “I'm a pastor (at St. Bernard’s) on Lincoln Street, and I thought to myself, 'If someone had done something like this at my parish, how would I respond?'”
Within a month, police detectives identified the person in the security camera footage.
The Worcester Police Department recovered the two Pride flags and the flagpole and returned them to the church. The case was turned over to Early’s office, and a hearing was scheduled for January.
“We were hoping that we could have a conversation with the people who took it,” Sams said. “As far as we were concerned, we didn't want to press charges, but if those folks ever wanted to talk to us, we would welcome them to come and visit.”
“I kept thinking, do you need a hug? Do you need your own Pride flag? Can we help you through this? Our interest was in a little soul repair and relationship rebuilding,” Blaisdell said.
Blaisdell said she worked with prosecutors to set conditions for the teen to meet in order to avoid a criminal conviction. Those conditions included a meeting with the teenager to “put a face to the church he had hurt.”
Blaisdell recounted the conversation: “He was riding around in his truck with his friend and his friend said it would be funny to steal the flag. He looked stricken when he said, 'I didn't even know what a hate crime was until my mom explained it to me.’”
From a religious perspective, Blaisdell said, it was important for Christian organizations to approach conflicts like the theft of the flag with forgiveness in mind.
“Because it was a kid, there was extra room for grace, but even if it had been an angry adult, I don't think our desired outcome would have been so different.” Blaisdell said.
In her opinion, it was equally important that churches who welcome LGBT worshippers make it clear that their doors are open.
“LGBTQ folks have been made to feel unwelcome in sacred spaces for a very long time. There has always been a need to be explicit about welcoming folks who have been made to feel unwelcome,” Blaisdell said. “The Gospel has always been clear that those who have been marginalized are to be brought into the center.”
Both Blaisdell and Sams said the theft and recovery of the Pride flags has only strengthened First Baptist Church’s commitment to supporting LGBT rights.
“We have had many people walk through our doors and say they came here because of the flag,” Sams said.
“There is nothing that will stop us from flying this flag because it has been so important to be visibly welcoming to folks who have been made to feel unwelcome in their churches and in their countries,” Blaisdell said. “We will buy extra flags so that we can continue to be a witness to this kind of welcome.”
This article originally appeared on Worcester Magazine: Teen suspect ID'd in theft of FIrst Baptist Worcester Pride flag
