A church in suburban Palatine has sparked controversy due to a message seeming to relate to immigration outside their building. NBC Chicago’s Vi Nguyen reports.
A church sign in Chicago's northwest suburbs revolving around immigration is stirring up controversy, with some residents speaking out against the church's pastor.
The messages went up on the church’s marquee about a week ago at New Hope Community Church in Palatine.
The message read “heaven has strict immigration laws” and “hell has open borders.”
Maggie Redmon, a Palatine resident, was among several who were upset at the sight of the messages.
“I was just so angry, hurting for the families, and the children, who might see it and feel excluded in our town. That’s not how Palatine is,” Redmon said.
Fellow resident Katey Rish also expressed concern with the messages, which she found to be hypocritical.
“I feel like Christianity unfortunately is being hijacked by people who don’t in any way represent the values of Jesus Christ and the love that he had for the world,” Rish told NBC Chicago.
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While the church pastor says the messaging was not meant to be political, some residents are questioning the meaning and intention behind the sign and believe the messages are hateful.
“I feel if the church is going to be doing that, they should be paying taxes. This is a residential area,” one neighbor said. “There is no need for me or any of us to live around here to be staring at those kind of messages on a daily basis—they’re extreme.”
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A group of moms started their own campaign to spread what they described as positive messaging and said they’re not buying the response from the church.
“Regardless of the intent, perception is hugely important and the larger part of the Palatine community won’t accept that perception as being who we are,” resident Theresa Greinig said.
The pastor of the church declined NBC Chicago’s request for an on-camera interview, but posted a video response on YouTube defending the sign and the messaging behind it.
“We often time take issues of the day and put it up on our signs pointing people to the righteous of God and who he is, but for six days there were no problem,” Pastor James Pittman Jr. said.
The pastor in the 14-minute-long YouTube video stood by his decision to put up the sign saying it was simply a message to redirect people to God and heaven.
The pastor said their church doors are always open to helping everyone through ministries at their church.
“How many times in the last month, last year, or last decade have you spent clothing the hungry, because seems like a lot of people are worried about clothing the hungry and that New Hope doesn’t care—that’s not true,” he said.
