Taylorsville United Methodist Church vandalized

Taylorsville United Methodist Church vandalized

Monday, September 15, 2008

Sometime over the weekend, before church services were to begin Sunday morning, Taylorsville United Methodist Church was vandalized to the point that services could not be held in the sanctuary. Pastor Sarah Dorrance - my sister-in-law – held services outside.

Below please find a letter she wrote to the congregation about the incident. Please keep the church and the person or persons who committed this terrible crime in your prayers.

Kevin Dayhoff

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Today at Taylorsville UMC Sept 14, 2008

Dear Congregation:

If you were at church this morning, you already know that a very unpleasant surprise was waiting for us upon arrival for worship this morning. Overnight we had been seriously vandalized. Our sanctuary could not be used to hold worship this morning.

God meets us in our times of trial, and this morning was no exception. I thank everyone who helped pull worship together. We worshiped outside in the beauty of our own front lawn, under the tree. Just as the LORD met Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 18:1), so too, the LORD met us by the maple of TUMC. Thank you all for being flexible, but mostly thank you for coming together to be the church in the midst of crisis---the church is not the building, it is the members of the congregation who form the body of Christ.

We used both Isaiah 40: 1-11 and Psalm 137 to give our hearts time to cry out in the hurt and confusion of being violated. You are encouraged to reread these verses at home. (The full message from this morning will be put up on our web site by the end of Sunday. You can hear the words again, and you can certainly hear many cars driving by too;)

You should know that this afternoon the Rev. Terri Rae Chattin, who is our District Superintendent came by to look at what had happened. She, along with our conference guide, Rev. William Chaney and our Bishop, Rev. John Schol join together to unite with us in prayer. They are very concerned about our well being and want to offer us encouragement and support.

I ask you to join me in praying for our congregation and what steps God would have us take next. I also ask that you each search deep in your own hearts for where you are: pray for comfort and guidance for each other, and pray for soften hearts so that we can move forward and forgive those who have violated our space. Also, pray for the one (or ones) who are so angry at the world that they need to act out in destruction.

We will keep you updated during the week as to progress that is being made. Tomorrow, we are hoping that the insurance adjusters will come in. We hope to have a day of clean up soon, and we will be asking folks to come help, if they have some free time.

Keep one another lifted up in prayer.
Grace and Peace
Pastor Sarah Dorrance

20080914 Taylorsville United Methodist Church vandalized