Selam Olson.13, displays one of the yard signs being sold by the First Congregational Church of Lyme. Selam is the daughter of Susan Olson, who serves as the church Pastor. Photo submitted.
LYME — The First Congregational Church of Lyme is partnering with Hate Has No Home Here to sell yard signs to members of the community. The signs show the message in a number of languages.
Lyme First Congregational Pastor Susan Olson notes, “While we’re a church, the movement is not related to a religion or political party–everyone can participate.”
Asked why the church decided to start selling the signs, Olson explains in a text to LymeLine, ” I came across the Hate Has No Home Here Project while doing some research for a sermon a few weeks back. I liked the origin of the project. It comes from a residential neighborhood in Chicago, mostly focused on families in walking distance of one particular elementary school.”
She continues, “A third grade child coined the phrase and the neighbors created the signs. The idea has spread like wildfire across the globe.”
Pointing out, “The project made sense for us at Lyme Church. We bought 100 signs to resell because we know that 100 signs denouncing hate will make a big splash in the Lyme area, whereas in a larger town like Hartford or New Haven, it would be harder to see them as part of a movement.”
“As Christians,” Olson adds, “We are deeply concerned about current events, about the deep stain of racism, and how hatred in all its forms is poisoning our communities and our world. We wanted to respond in a way that includes the whole community–not just our church–and the sign campaign seemed to be a good place to start.”
She concludes, “We hope that many of our neighbors and friends will join us in saying that hate has no home here.”
The signs are being sold for $6. The next opportunity to purchase signs will be Sunday, July 12, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the church parking lot.
Those wishing to buy a sign should bring a check payable to First Congregational Church of Lyme or exact change. Distribution of signs at the church will be contactless. The church’s Facebook page states, “Drive up, pop your trunk, drop your money in a box outside your window and off you go. We’re spreading love, not germs!”
Once a sign has been obtained, people are invited take a picture of their family with their sign and the church will post it (with appropriate permissions) on the church’s social media accounts.
