Pastors condemn preachers' acts

Nearly two dozen local evangelical pastors gathered near the LDS Conference Center on Tuesday to condemn the actions of street preachers who desecrated clothing sacred to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints earlier this month.

The Rev. Greg Johnson, president of a coalition called Standing Together, said the actions of Lonnie Pursifull, Utah director of the World Wide Street Preachers Fellowship, and other street preachers who profess to be "Christian evangelists" do not in any way represent the Christian gospel that he and other group members believe in.

The street preachers held protest signs and used bullhorns to deride Latter-day Saints during the faith's semiannual general conference in early October and at one point reportedly spat and stomped on garments considered sacred to church members.

Two LDS men were arrested after taking the garments from the street preachers, and one was charged with assault. The Provo man has since received donations for his legal defense fund.

"Those who would profess to be followers of Jesus Christ cannot and ought not needlessly offend those with whom they might disagree theologically," the Rev. Johnson said.

The group came together en masse to "speak firmly against any actions that forward activities of hate and discrimination as qualities associated with genuine Christian witness or behavior," he said.

Those who "profanely used the Mormon garments to mock and ridicule the Latter-day Saint community in ways too egregious to mention owe an apology to the Mormon community, and we call upon them to repent publicly of their activities," he said.

Pursifull, who told a Deseret Morning News reporter on Tuesday that he planned to attend the press conference, didn't show up.

Ken Mulholland, president of the Salt Lake Theological Seminary, said his institution has had "the privilege of being picketed" by Pursifull and company after decrying the street preachers' tactics on earlier occasions.

The Rev. Johnson said various pastors who are members of Standing Together had tried to speak to Pursifull individually, but "he was very disinterested and refused to hear us."