Protest held after sign outside of church tells gays to ‘turn or burn’

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — An anti-gay sign outside of a Wilmington church resulted in a protest Sunday morning. The message, which had been up since last week instructed gays to ‘turn or burn’

“It’s kind of like salt in a wound,” said Tammy Heuring, the wife of the Seagate Community Chapel pastor. “However, salt does heal a wound. It just hurts really bad at first.”

The Seagate Community Chapel off of Oleander drive put up a controversial sign which read “God loves gays but hates perverted lives, turn or burn’

“Without having the space, the person who does the sign used the most concise wording that they could,” said Pastor David Heuring. “Was that the best wording possible? I don’t think so.”

The sign has since been vandalized. On Sunday morning a heart was spray painted over it and all that was left was the phrase ‘god loves gays.’ Church members then added ‘but he hates sin.’

Wilmington Pride, an area organization that supports homosexuals wanted to do something about the message they called hateful.

“Do you know how many kids go past here,” said TR Nunley, president of Wilmington Pride. “They might be struggling with their sexuality and see that and at the least they would feel bad about themselves and at the most maybe they would attempt suicide or something.”

The group organized a peaceful protest across the street from Seagate.

“We had a lot of dialogue,” said Pastor David Heuring. “We were probably over there for half an hour or so passing out drinks and talking with them.”

Pastor Heuring says the ‘turn or burn’ sign is the first in a series of signs they will be putting up about different types of sinners.