As June Pride Month festivities continue, some churches are facing backlash for their refusal to join in. Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Iowa decided to take a stand with a message on its sign declaring “Ditch Pride. Embrace Humility!” two days before the start of Pride Month. The sign, however, stirred up protesters, with activist Heather Ryan organizing a protest outside the church on Sunday while congregants entered the building.  “This is Pride Month, and we decided to come out and show our support for all of our friends and neighbors in the gay community. We’re out here fighting for values and decency and dignity for everybody. Everybody is welcome in the state of Iowa,” Ryan told local outlet, KCCI. It does not appear Ryan was asked if that welcome included Christians who don’t support Pride Month. About a dozen people joined Ryan in her protest.

Speaking to The Christian Post, the church’s pastor Michael Demastus stated protesters acted within the law but that they carried a bullhorn and were “obscene” and “loud.” He stood by the church’s decision to post the words on the sign. “The message was … intentional that we’re going to hear all of June all about pride. And the message of Christianity is the converse of that. I guess it’s OK to say it inside of our walls, right? But as soon as you take a message like that outside of the walls, it is not received well,” he said. “The reality is Christ didn’t just say it was a possibility, He promised. They hated me; they’re going to hate you. So, any believer that lives out his faith in the public arena is going to be hated by the world. That’s just a truism of being a person of faith who follows Jesus.”

Demastus also vowed that the protesters would not force the church into backing down. The church has faced threats for the sign, including a threatening phone call. The caller was identified and police have been in contact. “I’m going to keep it up all June now. Because they’re bullies, and the intent of something like that is to intimidate people so that they’ll change their activities. … I’m [not] going to be intimidated by a group of bullies like that. That’s just not going to happen,” Demastus insisted. Members of the congregation provided donuts to protesters and the congregation prayed for protesters during the service. “Christ died for them,” said Demastus. “Christ loves them. Christ loves Heather Ryan. And we know that Heather Ryan doesn’t know Christ, and she’s lost; she doesn’t understand that, but we love her in spite of her angst towards us.”

Throughout the month of June, churches and businesses have faced backlash for choosing to take a stand against Pride Month. Carl’s Bakery, a small business in Granite Falls, Minnesota opted to celebrate “Nuclear Family Month” for the month of June. After the bakery’s announcement drew outside attention, the bakery’s owner, Joshua Streblow, informed The Christian Post that they have received threats. “We’re blocking numbers from people who are saying they wish we would die, they wish we would be murdered like other people they’ve known in the gay community, they hope our business burns down. It’s that kind of thing, just streams of profanity,” he said. Whether the business will face protests, Streblow said is “in the Lord’s hands.”