GRAND FORKS GAZETTE
Vol. 115, No. 43; p. A1, A7
Wednesday, October 24, 2012

UNITED CHURCHES GRAFFITI-TAGGED
by Karl Yu

United churches in Grand Forks and Greenwood were vandalized in an incident reported at 8:46 on Friday morning. 

St. John’s United Church in Grand Forks had the words “Paradise or Oblivion The Venus Project” sprayed on the left part of the front of the church in blue and red paint and a similar incident happened at St. Columba United Church in Greenwood. 

St. John’s church secretary and parishioner Colleen Salikin said that members of the congregation would be upset by the act. 

“The church building is a second home to seniors and it’s almost as if it’s happened to themselves,” Salikin said. “If this is advertising for something, could they not have got the word out with flyers or an ad in the paper instead of causing stress and anger amongst people who worship there?” 

Reverend Kim Horwood, pastor of the Boundary Pastoral Charge, which includes St. John’s and St. Columba, said that the incident was a shame but didn’t seem overly bothered by it. 

“To tell you the truth, my first thought was it could’ve been worse and I come from the city so graffiti is no big deal. There were no swear words or profanity,” she said.

The official home page for The Venus Project (www.paradiseobilivion.com) says that it is a free online documentary that “details the root causes of the systemic value disorders and detrimental symptoms caused by our current established system.” 

The website listed a mailing address in Florida and Roxanne Meadows, one of the people associated with the film, didn’t want to comment but said that there are many people trying to promote The Venus Project and she couldn’t be responsible for what they do. 

Grand Forks RCMP currently don’t have any suspects but ask that if anyone witnessed or witnesses anyone graffiti tagging, please report it. 

“We’re certainly still keeping an open mind to finding out who is responsible for this so if anybody sees anybody doing something like that please don’t hesitate to call us (250-442-8288),” Staff Sgt. Jim Harrison said. “We don’t get this an awful lot and we’d like to put an end to it before it gets out of hand.” 

So far, no other churches in the area have reported being vandalized.