LYNN — Using a $23,000 grant from the Department of Homeland Security to protect religious structures from hate crimes, the Washington Street Baptist Church has installed a new set of exterior lights.
Pastor Peter Balentine said that the light replacements, installed over the last four weeks by Andover Outdoor Lighting and McCurdy Electrical Services, were a well-needed addition, and will serve as a security improvement for the 148-year-old church.
“We really didn’t have any lighting on the church, a lot of it was defective, or it was old, old lighting that didn’t work anymore, or we just didn’t have any lighting, we really only had one light that was over the main entrance,” Balentine said. “The whole idea is that mosques and synagogues and churches can be targets of hate crimes. So this legislation, this program came to enable religious organizations, faith institutions to address issues related to the safety to prevent hate crimes.”
Although the Washington Street Baptist Church has not yet seen any hate crimes lately, Balentine said that while applying for funding, he cited attacks on the defacing of the St. George Greek Orthodoz Church in 2019.
“They had their mosaics defaced in the front. I think it was graffiti there, spray painted. And there was also a church in the downtown area that had several arson attempts, and I think, ultimately burned down due to arson. That was within the last five years or six years. We included in the grant some of these things that had happened,” Balentine said.
Balentine said that although the lights primarily work as a deterrent to hate crimes, and will allow the church to hold events and gatherings at night, they also enhance the church’s aesthetic beauty.
“It was a combination first, for safety, security. And then second, you know, it improves the aesthetics of the building at night. We’re central downtown, so it just adds a really nice, like time, feel to the whole place,” Balentine said. “Lighting was the really big thing, because a lot of people in the church didn’t feel safe coming, coming to the church at night because it was so dark. But now that we have really good lighting in our parking lot, and the whole building is lit, this is a major thing for us to be able to do things at night at the church.”
Balentine said that in addition to the newly-installed lights, he is interested in securing additional safety improvements for the church in the future. He said that he encourages the public to take a look at the newly-lit church the next time they pass by it at night.
“So physical security, you know, either cameras or lighting, even fixing the doors, so they’re more solid and secure, those are all things that could be included,” Balentine said. “ So we just encourage people, take a drive by it and see it, admire it.”
