Report: Church hostility increasing nationwide

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(The Center Square) – Two churches in North Carolina were the target of arson attacks over the weekend, another example of increasing hostility against churches, the Family Research Council argues. 

In its new report, “Hostility against Churches in the United States,” the FRC’s Center for Religious Liberty catalogues 415 publicly reported incidents that occurred in 2024. The number is significantly higher than the yearly totals reported from 2018-2022. A record high 485 incidents were reported in 2023. 

Since 2018, FRC has identified 1,384 acts of hostility toward churches in the U.S. 

In the first six months of 2022, there were 50 documented incidents of “arson, vandalism, property theft, and property destruction” targeting churches, prolife organizations and individuals, identified in an FRC report. They occurred ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade, The Center Square reported. 

The FRC notes that crimes against churches are increasingly being committed as fewer people are attending services or identifying with a specific faith and polls show religious beliefs are far less influential in American life than they previously were.

“With Christianity seemingly losing influence and respect in American life and fewer people feeling emotionally or spiritually connected to churches, there may be less societal pressure to discourage would-be criminals from targeting churches,” the report notes. However, “Acts of hostility against churches” have sent a message “that churches are not wanted in the community or respected in general.” 

Data indicates there is “growing opposition to Christianity in the public sphere,” the FRC warns.

The analysis primarily used open-source documents and news reports of violence committed against churches. It catalogues the data into the categories of vandalism, arson, gun-related incidents and bomb threats. Vandalism includes “intentional destruction of property, defacement of property, burglary, and ransacking;” gun-related threats include those that occurred on church property or threats made against members, it explains.

In total, 415 incidents were reported against 383 churches in 43 states. 

California had the most of 40, followed by Pennsylvania’s 29; New York and Florida each had 25; Texas had 23 and Tennessee and Ohio each had 19, according to the data. 

An average of 35 hostile incidents were reported each month last year; 22% were related to LGBT issues, according to the data. 

The greatest number of incidents reported fell into the vandalism category of 284, followed by 55 arson incidents, 28 gun-related incidents and 14 bomb threats. 

“Some acts of vandalism appear to have been motivated by anger toward a particular church or churches in general. Other incidents seemed to have had political motivations, targeting churches based on their views regarding human sexuality or dignity,” the report notes. 

The motivation for arson appears to be unknown or related to mental health issues, researchers found. The report cites examples of physical and structural damages and severe losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars incurred by churches in multiple states. 

“Gun-related incidents were the only notable increase,” last year, more than doubling the previous year’s total, researchers found. 

The report cites examples, including an incident at Jesus’ Dwelling Place Church in Pittsburgh where a young man walked in and pointed a gun at the pastor mid-sermon. He was tackled by a church deacon and the video of the incident was posted on social media. No one was injured; the gunman was arrested and charged.  

In Georgia, an man armed with an AR-15 disrupted several church services, posted terroristic threats on social media, asked people to join his militia, and reportedly made videos threatening law enforcement. He was arrested, faces several charges, including terroristic threats and acts, and was jailed without bond. 

In San Francisco, a man fired into the main doors of St. Augustine Catholic Church while people were inside; no one was injured. In Houston, a woman, who used male and female aliases, used an AR-15 rifle to fire inside a megachurch, injuring two people. She was shot and killed by two off-duty police officers. 

The majority of bomb threats against churches reported last year appeared to be hoaxes, although authorities took them seriously, according to the report.

The FRC notes that the total number of incidents it cites aren’t exhaustive because many cases of violence committed against churches “likely went unreported to law enforcement or unpublished by news outlets or other publicly available sources.”