Spending a year and half discerning whether or not to let deer who are destroying your property be hunted = kind of whacked.

All 16 Dayspring Church members took part in the decision as to whether to have a hunt, Hall said, using a Quaker tradition known as the "discernment process." Over a year and a half, they researched, debated, prayed and did plenty of "listening to the spirit" before securing a hunting permit, Hall said.

But the discernment process did not produce a unanimous decision.

During the hunt, Andrea Burgard, a church administrator, joined two other employees in silent prayer for the deer. "These particular deer are part of our church community," Burgard said. "So deciding to shoot them is like deciding to shoot some community member."

On the other side of the property, Frank Markus, the former D.C. police officer, led three hunters. Markus, who has been hunting for nearly 40 years, said he is providing a much-needed service. The church leaders, he said, "want to protect the forest that they have. Well, there’s no other way of doing it."

When the morning hunt was over, Burgard and the two other employees joined Markus for an informal ceremony to bless the dead deer before they were taken away to become a low-cholesterol meal for the homeless or for people with heart conditions.

Burgard declined to let a reporter accompany her to the blessing. "I need my privacy," she said.