Dear Church,
We had a bit of a surprise at the church building on Monday morning. When Kurt, our stalwart Custodian/Maintenance staff person, showed up for work, there was some damage to one of our windows. It seems that at some point during the night or early in the morning of Monday, someone threw a brick through one of our windows. Hanging in front of the window was one of Larry Green’s beautiful stained glass windows, this one in the design of the United Church of Christ crest: the cross with the world and the phrase “that they may all be one.”
Quickly, Kurt and others worked to repair the damage. John McGrath came by and led Kurt in boarding up the broken window to prevent injury, further damage, and unauthorized building damage. Larry Green came by and worked with John to get the damaged stained glass piece back to his window, where he’s repairing it even now. We filed a police report, and found out that our neighbors across the street at Trinity Lutheran Church also sustained a broken window.
By the time I got into the office, after a Valentine’s brunch with my partner, all the damage was cleaned up and the stained glass was back in Larry’s workshop. When I called to check in, Larry let me know that that piece has been hanging in First Congregational’s building for nearly forty years, in a couple of different locations. I was glad to hear that Larry is likely going to be able to repair the piece and return it to it’s place: marking the door that many of us come and go through on Sunday mornings, blessing the passageway to the chapel, and reminding us all of the United Church of Christ’s call: finding places of oneness and connection in a broken and distraught world.
I don’t know why someone threw a brick through our window. I’m glad no one was hurt, and I’m glad it seems that all the damage is repairable. When I mentioned the damage to a friend, they reflected that there’s a lot of folks out there who have been hurt by the church. And that’s true: maybe all of us have had moments of anger and grief at the way a faith community has treated us, or abandoned us, or misunderstood us. And some of us have acted out of anger: sometimes for the holy and productive action of protest and change-making, and sometimes in more destructive ways.
