Blogs stir hateful reaction to church on rescue mission meal service

Merced’s Central Presbyterian Church shut down its Facebook page after receiving vulgar and hateful messages over an incomplete and misleading account, spread on social media, alleging that church members complained about the Merced County Rescue Mission serving meals to the homeless.

The online threats came after Valley Public Radio reported about the mission’s meal program relocating. The story did not include comments from the church.

Ken Robbins, an elder at the church, said he wasn’t able to return the reporter’s calls before the deadline.

The rescue mission relocated its meal program to Calvary Assembly of God last week in order to be a “good neighbor” to the church, businesses and neighborhood near its Canal Street location.

An atheist blog, patheos.com, picked up the KVPR story, and the post was recirculated nearly 9,000 times, Robbins said. Then, a United Kingdom online news source called The Independent ran a story without input from the church, which was shared another 11,000 times.

After being bombarded by hateful comments on its Facebook page, the church shut it down. But commenters sought other outlets in which to bash the church, Robbins said.

“People responded then by posting very negative reviews on Google and Yelp as a way of cyberbullying and publicly shaming (Central Presbyterian),” Robbins said. “Throughout the bulk of last week, our office was overwhelmed with hate email and incendiary phone calls, mostly from folks outside the area and across the country.”

The church posted a statement about the incident on its website and Bruce Metcalf, the director of the rescue mission, wrote an op-ed for the Sun-Star clarifying the relationship between the church and mission.

“Reports charged that the church was working against the rescue mission and cared little for those the mission serves,” Metcalf said. “Here is the good news: Nothing could be further from the truth!”

The church, in its statement, noted various ways the mission and church are intertwined: Church members are on the mission board; the church paid the mortgage for the mission building and allows the mission to stay there for free; church members host Bible studies and recovery programs for mission residents; and more.

“We are big fans of the rescue mission, and they are big fans of us,” Robbins said.

Metcalf echoed that in his op-ed, saying the church helps the mission serve those who are forgotten by society.

Said Metcalf: “Over the years, Central Presbyterian Church has been a great blessing to the work the Rescue Mission is involved in as the Mission serves the needs of those who are the least, the last and the lost in our society. We are both grateful for one another and gladly celebrate our fruitful partnership.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Blogs stir hateful reaction to church on rescue mission meal service."