By Rev. Tammy Franklin
Pastor, Creasey’s Chapel United Methodist Church
Two weeks ago, unknown person/s decided to throw a six-pound rock into one of the stained-glass windows of Creasey’s Chapel United Methodist Church. The window is high, and the first attempt resulted in a dent in the aluminum window casement and cracked the beautiful stained glass.
A second attempt caused some of the glass to break and fall into the church building, adding further damage.
The rock itself became lodged in the window, trapped by the lead surrounding the glass.
A week later the person/s returned, this time breaking another stained-glass window and kicking in a door.
As the pastor, my first reaction was sorrow for the wonderfully sweet members of the church. If ever there was a church family who epitomizes Christian love for one another, it is this one. Knowing the peace that abides in their hearts has now been shattered brings me pain. Then I felt anger at anyone who would cause such undeserved destruction to a church which serves as a sanctuary for the soul, the place where Christians gather, leaving worldly angst, hurried-ness and secularism behind for a time to receive refreshment and renewal. This is essential for Christians because Jesus Christ calls all who believe and follow after him to the awesome, challenging work of living a life that imitates our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to the best of one’s ability while residing in an environment that is becoming more and more hostile to Christians. The anger faded only to be replaced by a deep sadness for the person/s who, having no respect for God and other people, caused physical damage to the building and emotional damage to my people.
It is difficult to understand why anyone would want to destroy a beautiful expression of praise and honor dedicated to God, yet I also know that each person has a life story, and some life stories are filled with heartache, disappointment, or abuse. For the last two Sunday mornings, the good people of Creasey’s Chapel UMC joined in prayer for those who committed these acts.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to pray for those who cause us harm, and we will continue to do so. But forgiveness does not erase the consequences of wrong choices and bad behavior; if you have any information pertaining to the crime, I humbly ask you to contact the Patrick County Sherriff’s Office.
My hope and prayer is that other churches do not experience such an act of violence.
Thank you for listening, thank you for caring. God bless you and keep you.
