The Pride flag hanging outside the Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy
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After attempting to pull down a Pride flag hanging outside the Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy on West 84th Street, the young suspect returned shortly thereafter—around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 24—and began slashing it with a knife before fleeing the scene. The events were captured on the church’s security cameras.
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Before speaking with Father Flourish, ILTUWS checked with the NYPD to see if a police report had been filed. An official told us, “There is no complaint report on file based on the information provided in your inquiry.”
Father Flourish, who is trans and uses they/them pronouns, explained their decision to avoid police involvement.
“We’ve decided as a community at this time not to file a formal police report because we realize that it’s a felony hate crime, which both underscores the seriousness of it, and also the fact that, if you’ve got a teenager who probably isn’t even thinking in terms of this, and I say that as a trans person myself, you know, I’m the priest at the church, and I’m trans, so I’m right there with the seriousness of it.”
Flourish, essentially taking a page out of the Bible (Matthew 5:39) and turning the other cheek, displayed grace with the church, saying, “If you report it to the police, officially, justice is blind and sometimes that’s not always a great thing if somebody is a kid who’s making a really dumb, bad mistake.”
Father Flourish
There’s no witch hunt here. The church is hoping to have a conversation with the young boy. Flourish, who grew up in Sacramento, California, has been with the Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy for the past two years, calling it a community church.
“We know a lot of the kids in the area, a lot of them use our basketball court… I wouldn’t be surprised if we figure out who it is and find some way to have a conversation with them about it, like, dude, find a new way to get a reaction, right? This is not it,” said Flourish.
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We asked Father Flourish what they would say to the teen boy who slashed the flag.
Flourish briefly paused before saying, “I think I would tell him that this might have seemed like not a big deal, like a prank, or even a way to show his beliefs. Who knows. He probably didn’t think too much of it. But he should know that what he did was a serious crime, and that it seriously hurt people in my community and made them feel very unsafe. We are praying for him, and we would like to have a conversation with him so that he could better understand the impact of his actions — and why there are better ways to send a message, make a statement, or even just get attention.”
The Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy has faced adversity before. In the 1960s, while Reverend James A. Gusweller was leading the Church of St. Matthew and St. Timothy, “a five-alarm fire destroyed the adjacent 69-year-old Victorian Gothic church designed by William Halsey Wood,” according to a history of the building published by Landmark West. “The inferno spread through a second-floor air shaft to the adjacent nine-story 1923 Neo-Georgian apartment building designed by George F. Pelham, causing damage to all floors. But while those residents returned and their building was restored, the church edifice was a total loss; firefighting efforts were hampered by fears the church steeple and nine-story bell tower would collapse.”
We inquired about the fire with Flourish, who explained that, according to records, the fire never had an official culprit. They noted that the church has a fascinating history. In the early 1960s, the block on West 84th Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue was considered one of the most dangerous in the city. Flourish explained that Reverend Gusweller was battling slumlord conditions in the area. The church, which became at least half Spanish-speaking at the time, rallied the community together. Flourish added, “You don’t always think of Episcopalians as the church of the people, but he really was. He kicked the slumlords out, and after that, he turned his attention to tackling drugs and gangs.”
The police never officially considered the fire to be arson, but to Flourish’s knowledge, everyone at the church is certain it was intentionally set, possibly in retaliation for Rev. Gusweller’s efforts to combat gang activity.
“No one was killed in the fire, thank God,” said Flourish.
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On June 21, the church will host a large parish party open to everyone in the neighborhood. The event will celebrate the diverse cultures that make up the parish, including a Juneteenth celebration, as St. Matthew and St. Timothy’s congregation is primarily made up of people of color, as well as a celebration of the Latino community. The festivities will feature live music and dancing, culminating in a special Pride Month service. The service will be led by one of the few trans women priests in the area and preached by a gay Franciscan, “making for an exciting and meaningful celebration,” according to Flourish, a nickname they earned as a kid in California before legally changing it.
When asked about the plan for their slashed flag, Flourish said with jubilation, “We will be mending or replacing it soon, but we decided it has earned its scars!”
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Father Flourish???? With tats yet..
Threatened, Lou?
ok loo krauz
Your photo with the headline is misleading — it looks like the picture is of the teen that slashed the flag, but the pic is of Father Flourish.
Father Flourish is a true representation of what it means to be a good Christian. I hope the culprit is found and can learn a lesson in tolerance, in spite of our hateful government.