THELEAVEN.ORG | VOL. 44, NO. 2 | JULY 15, 2022
‘JESUS NEVER PROMISED US EASY’
Left, Ascension School in Overland Park was vandalized the morning of July 10. The vandalism made it clear that the person responsible was unhappy with the parish’s support for the ‘Value Them Both’ amendment. Below, part of a vulgar message is seen scrawled across Ascension School’s doors. The parish has experienced several instances of vandalism in recent months.
STORY BY MOIRA CULLINGS / PHOTOS BY KATHRYN WHITE
Ascension parish vandalized for its ‘Value Them Both’ support
O
VERLAND PARK — When Sharon Weems arrived at Church of the Ascension here on the morning of July 10, she was stunned. “I was just sickened,” she said. “It’s dirty and ugly. It’s sad. It’s just really sad.” Weems, pastoral associate for administration and outreach at Ascension, described with a heavy heart the vandalism the parish had experienced hours earlier. Around 1 a.m., a person arrived outside the parish school and proceeded to spray-paint a vulgar message on its doors, along with the words “My body
Educate yourself Want to learn more about the “Value Them Both” amendment? See the explainer graphic on page 2.
my choice” on the front of the building. Elsewhere on the parish grounds, the person spray-painted a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in red. “We’ve done so much with our wonderful Knights of Columbus to try and protect everything,” said Weems, but vandalism at the parish keeps on coming. Over the past few months, Ascension
has had several of its “Value Them Both” signs defaced and stolen. But according to parishioners, the July 10 incident took things to a different level. Although they’re disgusted by what’s gone on, they remain unshaken in their support of the amendment, which will be voted on in Kansas on Aug. 2.
‘Everyone should know about it’ Since May 14, members of Ascension’s Knights of Columbus have taken shifts throughout the night to guard the church grounds. Two men were on-site when the van-
dalism occurred, and one witnessed it from his parking spot. “Out of the corner of my eye, I caught motion,” he said. The person came into the Knight’s view under the streetlight before going back into shadow under the school awning. “It took me 20 or 30 seconds to figure out what I was looking at,” said the Knight, whose name, like other Knights interviewed for this story, will be withheld since their nightly watch continues. Through binoculars, the man watched as the person spray-painted the church building. >> See “NEVER” on page 10