White Rock United Methodist Church. Courtesy photo

Pastor Gary Seelau

Daycare staff arriving to work Monday at White Rock United Methodist Church discovered vandals had defaced the church with graffiti of a graphic and satanic nature.

Pastor Gary Seelau told the Los Alamos Daily Post that he does not believe for a minute that the vandalism to his church was religiously motivated.

“I think it is misguided individuals and I believe it has more to do with boredom … I don’t think it is a cult,” Seelau said. “The police say there has been a rash of these kinds of incidents and that it’s random, not targeting any specific type of business.”

Certified Lay Minister Terry Foxx

The White Rock United Methodist Church at 580 Meadow Lane in White Rock embraces the motto, “We welcome you with…Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.” Certified Lay Minister Terry Foxx, a member of the church, explained that the only way to stop people from spraying graffiti on buildings and other acts of vandalism is to get them to understand the ramifications of their actions.

“It’s senseless for anybody to do this because it’s destructive. In this case, we try to help people and when we have to repair this kind of damage, that takes money away from people in need who we could be helping,” Foxx said.

There has been a silver lining to this particular incident.

“The good people of our church and our community have come forward and we want to thank everyone whose thoughts and prayers are with us,” Pastor Seelau said. “We’ve also had a few people with resources step forward to help us and that means so much.”

Police are following up on all leads in this case. Anyone with information should contact the LAPD Investigations Division at 505.662.8222.