Two pastors who lead churches in Texas’ second-largest city are condemning vandalism directed at their houses of worship that occurred as opponents of the Trump administration held protests nationwide.
In a Facebook post published Saturday, Pastor Ed Newton of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas, shared pictures of vandalism sustained by his church amid the “No Kings” protests against President Donald Trump on Saturday.
The phrases “Jesus wants Trump gone!” and “Love thy neighbor” were spray-painted onto the exterior walls of the church, while the sidewalk in front of the church was defaced with graffiti proclaiming “No king but God.”
In addition to the vandalism explicitly directed at his church property, Newton shared a picture of a stop sign defaced with the message: “STOP Trump.”
Newton also released a lengthy statement reacting to the vandalism of his church and other churches in general.
“Let’s be real clear. Jesus is King. Like Period. Jesus is King. But the scripture is real clear. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 calls those of faith to pray for all forms of government leadership. Which includes the ones we don’t like and like as well,” he wrote.
Newton also questioned the “very belief system” of the vandals who chose to “spew evil” and “spray paint this on our church” as a “form of hate.” He specifically addressed the statements asserting “Jesus wants Trump gone” and “No King Only God.”
“Can I tell you what ‘Jesus wants you to do?’ Not to spray paint His church. Not to vandalize, break laws, and honor the God you claim. If we can’t agree on this. Then there is a fundamental problem at the most elementary of levels, which is … If the mission is to intimidate in the name of Jesus, then I don’t think we are talking about the same Jesus!” Newton proclaimed.
“What Jesus wants is for all people to repent and live for Him, surrendered from a lifestyle of hate, sin and evil,” he added. “Jesus came to save sinners, change sinners, to sons and [daughters] that includes us all, me and you, including every president before us, amongst us and after us.”
“My allegiance isn’t to a donkey or an elephant of a political party; my allegiance is to King Jesus? The lamb and the Lion. Not some Americanized version of it. A King who is coming to bring wrath and judgment, but for now tarries so that all can be saved before He comes. Jesus is King,” he concluded.
Newton wasn’t the only San Antonio pastor to report vandalism at his church over the weekend.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Pastor Bil Cornelius of Church Unlimited – Stone Oak described himself as “so disappointed” to see the sidewalk in front of his church defaced with a statement reading, “Jesus wants Trump GONE.”
“Vandalism is not protesting. It is a crime,” he insisted. Cornelius shared the verse Romans 13:1, which states, “The authorities that exist have been established by God.” He maintained that “Therefore, we have and will always pray for and honor all American presidents.”
The vandalism directed at Community Bible Church and Church Unlimited – Stone Oak comes as churches across the United States have increasingly found themselves subject to acts of desecration, violence and arson over the past several years.
A report published in 2022 by the Family Research Council documented over 400 acts of hostility directed at churches between January 2018 and September 2022. The FRC report counted vandalism, arson, gun-related incidents and bomb threats as examples of hostile acts.
Subsequent reports published in 2023 and 2024 found that churches faced over 400 acts of hostility in those two years alone, suggesting an increased pace of church attacks. Church attacks picked up after Politico published a leaked draft of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson, determining that the U.S. Constitution does not contain a right to abortion and attacks continued after the Dobbs ruling was released in June 2022.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
