This November will mark two years since the parishioners of St. David’s Episcopal Church arrived one Sunday to find their church spray-painted with messages of hate.

On April 17, the church’s former organist appeared in Brown Circuit Court to plead guilty to the vandalism. He was the first to alert then-Rev. Kelsey Hutto about it the morning of Nov. 13, but it wasn’t until May 3 that police learned who did it.

George “Nathan” Stang, 27, was charged almost a year ago with institutional criminal mischief, a Class A misdemeanor, after he admitted to police that he was responsible.

During his court hearing, Stang was asked by his lawyer, Joseph Lozano, what he did that night in November. “I spray painted on the exterior of the church,” he said. He did not make any additional comments after being asked to confirm the facts of the case.

Last April, he admitted to Brown County Det. Brian Shrader that he spray-painted a swastika, “Heil Trump” and “Fag Church” on the building.

He told the detective he wanted to “mobilize a movement,” but he didn’t plan for the vandalism to generate the amount of media attention it caused, the document said.

Hutto was interviewed about the incident on national television. The church received hundreds of messages of support from across the country and the world.

After leaving the graffiti up for a couple weeks to “start a conversation,” church members and supporters gathered to clean it off and come together in prayer.

Stang was “adamant that he did not do it because he was anti-Christian; rather, that his intentions were strictly out of fear,” the police report stated.

“Stang, who is gay, stated he felt scared and alone because of the election results,” said the court document filed last year.

He also submitted a three-page written statement May 1, 2017 to Shrader, admitting guilt.

Last September, Stang also submitted a letter to the Brown County Democrat where he also admitted his guilt and asked for forgiveness.

“My name is Nathan Stang and, in November of 2016, I vandalized St. David’s Episcopal Church in Bean Blossom — my own place of employment — with anti-LGBT and pro-Trump graffiti, as well as a swastika,” the letter begins.

Stang wrote that in a “fog of fear and anger,” he wanted to “manifest the threat” he felt that was coming from President Donald Trump’s “oppressive rhetoric,” to make everyone feel as “scared and lonely as I did.”

“My fear saw me commit an act I regret with all that I am, and for which I feel great remorse,” Stang wrote.

He apologized to the church and the Brown County community in the letter. “That I brought confusion and pain into a community as undeserving as this one is terrible and sadly unrepresentative of the otherwise positive character I’ve tried to forge over the years,” he wrote.

Judge Judith Stewart accepted Stang’s guilty plea at the April 17 hearing. Lozano said Stang was accepting responsibility. “That was never an issue; he was always going to do that,” he said.

Sentencing was set for 1:15 p.m. June 5, allowing two hours for statements from church and community members, and from Stang.

“Potentially, you could have every member of that church who wants to say something. My client believes that those people are entitled to express their opinions,” Lozano said.

“He’s going to express how sorry he is about what happened and accept responsibility. He will speak on that day to explain what he has been doing since.”

At the time of the incident, Stang, a composer, was working on a doctorate in music at Indiana University.

Lozano said that Stang has had people in the community and from the church reach out to him, offering to write letters of support and make statements in court in his defense.

“They know that this is not indicative of what kind of person he really is,” Lozano said.

“He knows what he did was wrong. He’s guilty of this and he’s taking responsibility of it. He accepts whatever sentence the court deems appropriate.”

Closing the chapter

One of the three people from the public seated in the courtroom April 17 was Jim Huber, senior warden of St. David’s Episcopal Church.

Huber said he thought sentencing would happen today and that he wanted to observe the hearing.

“We have had very little direct contact with Nathan since the incident, although he sent a number of letters and corresponded with our priest who is no longer with us,” he said.

Huber said he had not had any communication with Stang directly.

After taking a deep breath, Huber said that Stang was “a good organist, an interesting person and gifted in his composition.”

“(But) he did something stupid,” Huber said.

“It was definitely awkward (seeing him in court) because you may like the person still on some levels.”

Huber said the church is “doing well,” but that it has been “very difficult.”

“Frankly, it has taken us awhile to work our way through it because it was such a big surprise,” he said.

Huber said the church is still searching for a new priest. Hutto left the church last year. The church has hired a new organist, Adrienne Shipley, who is finishing up her Ph.D. in harpsichord.

“She is very good and we enjoy her very much. We enjoyed Nathan very much,” Huber said.

Huber said the letters Stang sent to the church and to newspapers has helped the church to heal.

“He has clearly taken responsibility. He has expressed regret and remorse,” he said.

“I think that’s not typical of your average person who is caught spray-painting graffiti, although I don’t know a lot of people who have been caught.”

Huber said he will try to be at the sentencing hearing in June and that he will let members of the congregation know that they will have the opportunity to speak then if they wish.

Ultimately, Huber said it will be good for the church to have closure after the sentencing.

“If I were Nathan, I’d like to have it behind me, and I think it would be good for St. David’s to have that closure, too,” he said.

“Whatever the judge gives, I hope it’s not 90 days, (but) whatever it is, Nathan will know it and can start working his way through it. If it’s community service, he can start racking up the hours. It will help close this chapter with St. David’s, too.”