MIDDLEBROOK, Va. -- The rancid odor of smoke hung thick in the air as federal agents searched for clues in the sanctuary of the little church in the dell.
When investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives departed, the Rev. Dorcas Lohr locked the front door behind her. Suddenly, the church's bucolic location between a cemetery and a pasture where cows graze made her feel isolated and vulnerable.
Last weekend, someone broke into St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ. The perpetrator smashed a window of the fellowship room, then crawled in and set fire to a pew and the choir platform where the organist plays. The only clue to motive was anti-gay graffiti spray-painted on the red brick wall in the rear.
The arsonist's message -- and ire -- broke through a hodgepodge of poor spelling and abbreviations: "Gays lover," "Lesb hell," "UCC siners" and "Sinner."
Five days earlier, the General Synod of the national church announced its endorsement of same-sex marriage, though its decision is not binding on individual churches.
The St. John's congregation of 150 has never taken a position on the issue. By all accounts, most parishioners would oppose it. But as the only UCC church in the area, St. John's became a target.
"It's clearly a hate crime," said Lohr, sitting on a couch in the fellowship room where glass from the broken window still littered the floor. "It disturbs me deeply, that kind of hate message that says if you don't believe the way we believe, then we can destroy you."
The arson at St. John's has shaken many gay men and lesbians in the Shenandoah Valley, who say they are saddened by what has happened. They say that even in conservative rural Virginia, they have largely found acceptance at work and in their neighborhoods.
"I don't think people flaunt it," said Bruce Joffe, who lives with his partner in nearby Staunton, about 160 miles from Washington. "We haven't had a gay pride parade here. You won't ride up every street and find a rainbow flag. But people are accepted. To hear about this church, it's a couple of small minds doing dastardly deeds in a community that otherwise is a beacon of light in all of the valley."
The arson is being investigated by Virginia State Police, the FBI and the ATF, who have appealed to the public for tips in the incident. They consider it an important case to solve, said Jim Cavanaugh, special agent in charge of the Washington division of ATF, which includes Virginia.
"The reason hate crimes are so insidious is that people cannot change who they are," he said. "It may be a small church in rural Virginia, but every gay citizen who sees it is victimized by it."
The fire last Saturday occurred the day before St. John's celebrated its 225th anniversary. The church was founded by German immigrants who had fled religious feuding in Europe. Many of their descendants are parishioners.
