Mysterious visitors to local church were missionaries

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 18, 2015

By Shavonne Potts

By Shavonne Walker

shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com

Rowan authorities say the identity of three young men who walked into a predominantly African American church a month ago carrying backpacks is no longer a mystery.

They were missionaries.

The white men between the ages of 19 and 24 walked into St. Luke Baptist Church on Hawkinstown Road around 9 p.m., when the service was nearing the end, and exhibited behavior that church members found strange.

Church members, including an usher and deacon, asked the men if they would mind returning their backpacks to their vehicles. Church Pastor Arthur Heggins told the Post their behavior was odd enough to make some members fearful of their possible intentions.

The incident came on the heels of a shooting in Charleston where 21-year-old Dylann Roof walked into a historic black church, sat in on the service and later opened fire, killing nine people, including the pastor.

Church officials asked the men where they were from and the men showed badges that said LDS, which Heggins said they later learned stood for Latter Day Saints.

Rowan County Sheriff’s Capt. John Sifford said investigators confirmed the three young men were missionaries with the Church of Latter Day Saints.

The men, who were from Texas, have since returned, and said they didn’t intend to cause trouble. They saw the cars at the church and decided to stop, just as they had told the church officials during the service.
According to an investigator, the men were on a “mission journey,” which required them to not use a phone, watch television or use a computer. It is not clear if the men were aware of the disturbance they caused.
Sifford said the church pastor met with representatives from the Church of Latter Day Saints and an Eastern U.S. representative. All of the parties involved agreed it was a “misunderstanding,” Sifford said.

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