Vandals paint 'Crucify no voters' on Melbourne church amid Australia's same-sex marriage referendum

Churchgoers were shocked to find the phrases "Crucify No voters" and "Vote Yes" painted outside the Waverley Baptist church in Wheelers Hill, Melbourne when they arrived for morning service on Sunday.

"We all woke up to see the awful vandalisation of our church. It's disappointing to see these things and it was a shock to all of us," said senior pastor David O'Brien, as reported by The Herald Sun.

O'Brien has stated during services that the church favored the "No" vote, but it continued to support everyone, no matter which side of the vote they were on.

"We have people at the church who have worked for campaigns on both sides," he said. "While there has been heated discussions in the community, we have never received threats before. This was completely out of the blue," he added.

The church leaders have not yet identified the perpetrators but vowed to continue conducting services.

"We will not yield to hate. We will continue to love all, gay or straight, or whatever, and will continue to care for people no matter what and to teach the principles of good and moral behaviour that benefit all," O'Brien said.

The slogans, in reference to Australia's ongoing same-sex marriage postal survey, was one of several calls to violence against churches in the past few weeks.

The Glen Waverley Anglican Church, also in Melbourne, had been vandalized on Sunday with the phrase "Vote Yes, bash bigots" and sprayed with Nazi swastikas with an equal sign next to a cross, even though the pastor has not told his parishioners how to vote in the referendum.

Drew Mellor, the head pastor of the church, said that he personally opposes gay marriage, but his parish welcomes gay members. He has stated that he does not want to see the issue divide Anglicans.

In September, an evangelical church in Brisbane received online threats for posting a billboard defending the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Bellbowrie Community Church Senior Pastor John Gill noted at the time that one of the online messages he received included a suggestion that people bring petrol and set the church on fire.

Last week, the Anglican Diocese of Sydney has announced that it has donated $780,000 (AU$1 million) to the "no" campaign in the referendum that will guide the Parliament on whether to legalize same-sex marriage in the country.

Some church leaders have expressed disappointment with the donation, but Archbishop Glenn Davies said that he made "no apology" for backing the "no" campaign.

In his presidential address last week, Davies warned of "irreparable consequences" to society should the country choose to legalize gay marriage.