Gold Hill church tired of vandalism uses sign to offer a choice to the culprit

GOLD HILL, N.C. (WBTV) - A country church in Rowan County is having a lot of trouble with a doughnut maker. He doesn’t make the sweet treats, he leaves the skid marks all over the new parking lot, and he’s been doing it night after night.

The surveillance camera at First Baptist Church in Gold Hill shows the driver spinning his wheels, but the sign out front on Old Beatty Ford Road is offering a little grace.

Church member Donna Swanson was first to discover the vandalism.

“We’ve come upon this twice now with the doughnut man, I’m not sure who he is, and I feel like this is disrespectful to God and to God’s property,” Swanson said.

Pastor Toney Parsons feels the same way.

“In my younger wild days, which were very wild, I never even considered damaging a church, going near a church, you didn’t do it.”

But to the driver, the church parking lot is apparently not holy ground. The church video camera caught the driver making doughnuts, doing a burnout like a victorious NASCAR driver.

“I just think it’s disrespectful and it’s not right,” Swanson added.

If the pastor could say anything to the driver, it would be this: ““We know who you are. So if you just want to come and talk to me and that way take care of the damage and we can settle it there, but if you don’t want to let us know who you are, take care of it, then I’m afraid we will have to turn it over to the police department.”

In the daylight you can see doughnuts, circles, and skid marks where the tires left black rubber all across the new parking lot the church recently spent $12,000 to install.

To try and stop the vandalism, the church is offering grace, and a choice. The sign says “DOUGHNUT MAKER WE HAVE YOU ON VIDEO CALL BEFORE CHARGES ARE PRESSED.”

“Hopefully he’ll come forward, so we don’t have to press charges,’ Swanson said.

“We’ll forgive him for it, but sin must be atoned for,” Pastor Parsons added. “It’s a good thing to say we forgive you for it, we’re so sorry, we don’t hold any grudges, but these folks here worked might, mighty hard to achieve what we have.”

The church has had other vandalism the last few years. The pastor says three heating and air conditioning units were taken, copper stolen, and there was a break-in. He just hopes the doughnut maker may have a touch of conscience.

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