Chicago-area church stands ground on sign after LGBT activists protest

July 3, 2026

A Chicago-area pastor is defending his church’s digital messaging in defense of biblical sexuality and marriage after an LGBT activist group held a protest outside the church last Friday.

The Christian Post reports that the protest at New Hope Community Church in Palatine, targeted the church over the use of its electronic sign to display messages throughout the month of June such as “God invented marriage,” “Sex is objective reality” and “Ditch pride, embrace humility.”

The protest drew dozens of protesters with rainbow flags and signs to the approximately 100-member church, including the Northwest Suburban Pride Network (NWS Pride), according to WLS-TV.

New Hope Church was accused by protestors of spreading “messages of division, confusion and hate” with its electronic display.

Pastor James Pittman Jr. told the Christian Post he believes the protesters “had a problem with several of our signs” over the course of June, which LGBT activists typically celebrate as pride month.

Pittman said, “We use our sign to challenge the culture to think about eternity and hopefully get people to repent and turn to the Savior.”

The pastor added, “The external groups think that they are free to say whatever they want but somehow churches should remain silent on issues in the culture. We disagree.”

Pittman said the same group “attacked” New Hope earlier this year when they went to the mayor and “asked him to force” the church to take down the sign.

“Credit to the mayor,” Pittman added. “He said we had a legal sign and that our sign is a First Amendment issue.” 

Pittman affirmed that the church will continue to preach the Bible, regardless of how it’s received, saying, “Our message to the LGBT community is ‘We love you enough to tell you the truth. Please repent and turn to Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins.’”

Photo: top, Credit: Screenshot/YouTube/ABC 7 Chicago