Flags for Inclusion Will Fly Again at Trenton United

                                                       Trenton United Church 

We arrived for worship at Trenton United on Sunday morning and Ruth noticed the two flags featured prominently above the front entrance. They are the orange Every Child Matters flag, acknowledging our commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and the Pride flag which signals our inclusion of LGBTQ2S+ persons. 

On Monday Ruth mentioned her passing awareness after we heard that both the flags had been taken down and left, torn, on the ground overnight. Trenton UC is on a prominent corner in town so the flags and their statements are very visible to many passers-by. 

In another coincidence I spoke with a newcomer to the congregation during the after-worship schmoozing time who told me that he started attending with his granddaughter after seeing TUCs Pride in the Park booth back in the summer. There are others who've entered into the life of the congregation because of the emphasis on Christ's loving inclusion rather than exclusion.

New flags will go up and we'll pray that they stay there. As unsettling as this incident is, we can also pray for the perpetrator(s). And the congregation will go ahead with the Sunday service for the Trans(gender) Week of Awareness on Sunday and participation in the Trans Day of Remembrance next Monday. 

Here is the Quinte News article about the vandalism 

Trenton United Church says its Pride Flag and Every Child Matters Flag were “torn and broken from their moorings.”

The discovery was made Monday morning at the church entrance with the flags also found to be on the ground.

In a release on Tuesday, the church said it was “shocked and saddened” to make this discovery.

“For several years the church has been flying the Pride Flag in support of the LGBTQ+ community in Quinte West,” Rev. Isaac Mundy with the church said in a release.

“Likewise, Trenton United had been flying the Every Child Matters Flag as the congregation works to live out the calls of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to live in respectful relations with Indigenous communities.”

The church says local OPP were quick to respond to the incident and offered support.

Plans are in the works to reinstall the flags at the front of the building.

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