Reverend John Raymond has started his day the same way every day for the past 11 years: by dumping the church's mail into the garbage. For over a decade, his church has struggled to distance themselves from a similarly named organization based out of Florida. The American ‘Westboro Baptist Church’ is a religious organization known for their hate speech and severely conservative views on just about everything.
“We receive hundreds of letters and emails a month, mostly horrifying” explains Rev. Raymond. “I’m not sure what’s more disturbing, the messages of outrage sent for that other church or the ones of praise.”
The Ottawa church has been attempting a rebrand since October 2015, but has been unable to come up with a satisfactory name nearly one year later. Past nominees include “Our Holy Baptizer of Westboro” and “Richmond Road Baptist Church”. The organization is accepting pitches for their new name, which can be submitted through their humble website, www.godhatesbrags.com.
