(Eagle News) – The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) said it would continue its worship services and would not be deterred in spreading love to its fellowmen, as it thanked police officers who immediately responded to an arson attempt at the Church’s local congregation in Seattle Thursday night, Oct. 18.
In a statement, Barrington Thompson, the INC District minister for the Pacific Northwest region covering Seattle, noted and expressed appreciation for the Seattle police officers’ timely response and aid, as well as the help coming from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which is now investigating the case.
“We thank the officers who immediately responded to the protection and aid of our brethren in the locale of Seattle,” he said.
“We will continue with our peaceful worship services no matter what. In these times, all the more we need to keep faith, to remain hopeful and to spread love as true Christians,” he said.
Thompson also thanked the community members in Seattle who have sent their messages of sympathy and support to the Church Of Christ after reports came out that several Molotov cocktails were thrown at the Church’s house of worship in Seattle’s Rainier Valley on Thursday, Oct. 18. This happened around 8 p.m. as around 250 members of the congregation were attending a worship service.
“We take this opportunity to thank the communities and the multitude who have expressed their sympathies and support. We may believe in different things but we all believe that our freedom to worship and our freedom of religion make the United States of America a great nation,” he said.
Among the groups which have expressed their messages of support and sympathy are the CAIR Washington State, Faith Action Network, the American Muslims Empowerment Network, and the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network.
These groups and other members of the Seattle community’s Rainier Valley district have also expressed alarm at the attacks to a church in their area, and said that everyone should be able to practice their religion without fear.
The FBI is already investigating the attack as a potential hate crime, and has released a surveillance video showing the suspect.
Seattle police already arrested the suspect shown in the surveillance video.
Thompson was also interviewed by a television network in Seattle, King 5 News, where he revealed that the Church’s own security cameras in the compound had captured the incident on video.
He said the perpetrator of the Molotov attack on the Church’s house of worship may not have known that he was caught on tape.
“We’re not sure if he knew, because it would seem like he was doing sloppy work. Thank God he was doing sloppy work,” he said during the interview with King 5 News.
“Just the mere fact that those perpetrators had those Molotov cocktails is already a serious crime. The fact that he threw it at the Church building is even worse,” he said.
But Thompson said that although the incident saddened church members, they would keep on doing good work in the community.
“It saddens us. However, even though it saddens us, we do not respond in anger. We try our best to respond in a good way to our community which is what we would like to keep on doing,” the INC district minister said in the interview (Eagle News Service)
