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Showing posts with label Religion Crimes against CC churches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion Crimes against CC churches. Show all posts

Friday, September 19, 2008

Update from Pastor Dorrance on Taylorsville United Methodist Church


Update from Pastor Dorrance on Taylorsville United Methodist Church

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Dear Congregation:

These have been busy days at Taylorsville. We wanted a day when the office would be open every day of the week, well, that it has been the case, at least for this week ;)

Once again, Hearl, Bill and Karen Mitchell have done outstanding jobs in all of their work.

Today the police were out to talk to us some more. They have really been great.

Serv-pro has been cleaning up, you can hardly tell that something has happened in the sanctuary, and it is cleaner than it has been in a long time.All of the walls have been mopped down. We will be able to use the Sanctuary and the offices on Sunday, we will not have access to the basement.

Perhaps the most important event of the day was when our Bishop, Bishop Schol came to visit us this afternoon. He, along with our District Superintendent, Rev. Terri Rae Chattin, our guide Rev. William Chaney, and two other guides, Rev. Mary Dennis and Rev. Matthew Poole, were here at our church to pray with us and to anoint our worship space.

They anointed our doors, or altar, our cross and our Bible--all symbols that help remind us of our faith, and the one who made it all possible, Jesus Christ.

The Bishop told us of a time when he was young that the sanctuary where he worshipped was vandalized, and he still remembers those feelings. He also wanted to offer us words of encouragement and hope for the future.

We have pictures to show you on Sunday.

Many blessings
Pastor Sarah


Picture caption:

Sept. 18, 2008 - Bishop of the Washington Area of The United Methodist Church John Roland Schol anointing a portion of Taylorsville United Methodist Church that had been recently damaged by vandals.

20080918 Update from Pastor Dorrance on Taylorsville United Methodist Church

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Troopers Arrest Two Youths For Church Vandalism

NEWS RELEASE
DEPARTMENT OF
MARYLAND STATE POLICE
HEADQUARTERS: PIKESVILLE, MD 21208
(410)486-3101 TTY For Hearing Impaired (410)486-0677
Toll Free: 1-800-525-5555

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 17, 2008

TROOPERS ARREST TWO YOUTHS FOR CHURCH VANDALISM

(Taylorsville, MD) – Maryland State Police today arrested two teenagers in connection with the recent extensive vandalism and prior burglaries that occurred at a church in southwestern Carroll County.

Two juvenile males, ages 14 and 15, who both live in Carroll County, were arrested today by Maryland State Police investigators from the Westminster Barracks. Both are charged as juveniles with second degree burglary, malicious destruction of property and theft under $500. Both were referred to Department of Juvenile Services officials who released the older one to his parents and placed the other youth in a shelter.

The investigation focused on a series of crimes that occurred at the Taylorsville United Methodist Church, in the 4300-block of Ridge Road, in Taylorsville, Md. On August 11, 2008, the church had been entered after an air conditioning unit was removed. A ring of keys for the church had been removed. On August 23, a window in the nursery was forced open and the nursery area was ransacked. On September 7, numerous unlocked vehicles on the church parking lot were entered and change and other small items were removed.

The most significant incident occurred on September 14, when a breaking and entering occurred through a basement window that was broken out by the suspects. Once inside the church, extensive damage was done to computers, candles, copiers, and religious items. Fire extinguishers were discharged in the church and mustard was spread around the church floor. Damage to the church in this incident was estimated at $70,000.

State Police investigators conducted numerous interviews, neighborhood checks and examined evidence left at the scene during their intense investigation. The compilation of evidence led to the identification of the two suspects charged today. The case remains under active investigation. Additional charges are possible.
###
CONTACT: Greg Shipley
Office of Media Communications
410-653-4236 or through HQ duty officer at 410-653-4200

20080917 Troopers Arrest Two Youths For Church Vandalism
20080917 NBH Troopers Arrest Two Youths For Church Vandalism

Arrests made in Taylorsville church vandalism incident

Arrests made in Taylorsville church vandalism incident

September 17, 2008

From Taylorsville United Methodist Church Pastor Sarah Dorrance:

Dear Congregation Family:

Today the State Police arrested two juveniles who are suspects in our Vandalism case. We can feel safe again in our worship space.

Tomorrow afternoon, around 2:30 pm., the Bishop and the District Superintendent will be stopping by our church to pray with us. You are invited to attend, should you so desire.

On Sunday we will be rededicating the sanctuary and our place of worship. Please join us in the celebration. We will also talk of how to move forward and we need to look at the future to see how to practice what Jesus teaches in forgiveness.

You probably know that we were featured on several news casts last night. The links are all listed below so that you can see the video footage. (Bill Harris really looks good on the camera ;) Please remember to thank Bill and Hearl for ALL their hard work.

We ask that you continue to lift up our faith community, and the community of Taylorsville in prayer. Also lift up these young people who were arrested and their families.

Many blessings

Pastor Sarah Dorrance

These are the news links from yesterday's news

http://www.foxbaltimore.com/players/news/top_stories/mywx_vid_1393.shtml

http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=e18a298e-d9fe-4306-afa3-c84bcef0b91c

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=7446154&version=1&locale=EN-US

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/17483636/detail.html

20080917 Arrests made in Taylorsville church vandalism incident

Police search for vandalism suspect


Police search for vandalism suspect

By Jennifer Jiggetts,
Carroll County Times Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Damage found at Taylorsville United Methodist Church

TAYLORSVILLE — Police are looking for the person or people responsible for vandalism at Taylorsville United Methodist Church.

The church was vandalized sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, said Detective Sgt. Jim DeWees of the Maryland State Police.

DeWees said church windows had been broken, screens were sliced and there was extensive damage to the church’s interior. The damage was so bad that the congregation held its service outside Sunday.

“You name it and it was destroyed,” he said.

[…]

John Quick, a 26-year church member, said congregants had worship under an oak tree on their front yard on Sunday.

Quick, who has served on the church’s board of trustees, said Taylorsville UMC has a forgiving heart.

[…]

Pastor Sarah Dorrance said the 75-member church wasn’t prepared to be outside on Sunday, but “nothing stops the service.”

For more information, call DeWees at 410-386-3000.


Read Ms. Jiggetts’ entire article here: Police search for vandalism suspect

Reach Jennifer Jiggetts at 410-857-7873 or jennifer.jiggetts@ carrollcountytimes.com.

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2008/09/16/news/local_news/newstory3.txt

20080916 Police search for vandalism suspect by Jennifer Jiggetts

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Update on Taylorsville United Methodist Church from Pastor Sarah Dorrance


Tuesday, September 16, 2008 Update on Taylorsville United Methodist Church from Pastor Sarah Dorrance

My church and day-I guess I will be on a lot of news channels

I sent this to my congregation today:

September 16, 2008

Dear Congregation:

I don't want to fill your e-mail boxes with "stuff", but I want to keep you updated of happenings. Once again, Hearl Wright and Bill Harris deserve gold medals, please make sure you thank them for all their work. Karen Mitchell also spent the entire day at church helping the cleaners figure out what was needed.

The police have 4 guys working on the case. They are very busy. They were in contact with us throughout the day.

We had a cleaning crew that consisted of about 8 folks here today. The insurance folks met with us again, the electronics were taken out to be cleaned (including the downstairs keyboard), and everything that could be dry cleaned was taken out as well.

They have told us that we will be able to worship in the sanctuary on Sunday. The basement will probably not be ready.

I expect that we will have a big group of visitors on Sunday, so we will be wearing name tags ;)

Many people wanted to talk to us today, including Channel 2, Channel 45, Channel 5 and channel 11. You might see some of those interviews this evening at 5 pm or 10 or 11.

Please remember to keep all involved: those cleaning, the police force, those who caused this and our congregation in prayer.

I think God has something big in store for us as we rise out of the dust heap.

Grace and Peace
Pastor Sarah Dorrance

Hebrews 11:1 "To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, and certain of the things unseen."

20080916 Update on TUMC from Pastor Dorrance

Monday, September 15, 2008

Update from Pastor Sarah Dorrance at Taylorsvile United Methodist Church


Update from Pastor Sarah Dorrance on repairing the damage from vandals at Taylorsville United Methodist Church

September 15, 2008

Dear Congregation:

I wanted to give you an update on events of today. First of all, many thanks to Hearl Wright and Bill Harris who have been working very hard to get the proper things in place. They have done a great job. Kudos Hearl and Bill! Thanks to you, the congregation too, for your patience and prayers.

This morning the insurance adjusters met with Bill and took a look at the extent of the damage. They recommended a professional cleaning company to begin the clean up process. That company will begin first thing tomorrow morning.

They've asked that we not be there during the initial clean up, as that will hinder their work. They will clean every thing up, and then put it in bags so that we can figure out where it belonged. (That is where we might need to help out.)

Things that are damaged beyond repair will go into portable #3 for now, until we can replace them. Insurance is working very closely with us. The best news is that they are fairly sure that we will be in the sanctuary to worship on Sunday morning!

(The basement and other rooms will not be ready yet--so adult Sunday Schools will have to be in the Education Building. Don't worry, the sofas are really comfortable there!)

The police have also been working very hard to solve this case…

[…]

The head police investigator offered to come talk to our congregation on Sunday morning, before worship begins to talk about what they are doing in terms of patrolling the area. They will be sending in cars frequently for the time being.

You should know that MANY churches and pastors of churches have called to offer their condolences and their prayers. MANY have offered hands on help to clean up. There is even one youth group that I have heard of that wants to help us clean up. God stands firm with us, even in the midst of trials.

Please continue to pray for our church, our community, our police force and the ones who caused it all. Oh, and maybe some sleep for Hearl and Bill, too ;)

Many blessings
Pastor Sarah Dorrance


20080915 Update from Pastor Sarah Dorrance

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

Related: Religion Taylorsville United Methodist

20061118 Repeated violations shake Cedarhurst Universalists
Religion Carroll County Churches
Religion Crimes against CC churches

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

Sunday, November 19, 2006

20061118 Repeated violations shake Cedarhurst Universalists

20061118 Repeated violations shake Cedarhurst Universalists

Repeated violations shake Cedarhurst Universalists

BY Diane Reynolds, Times Staff Writer Saturday, November 18, 2006

"The best way to fight this is to have the community condemn it," (Rev. Henry Simoni-Wastila) said.

(Rev. Henry Simoni-Wastila) quoted Booker T. Washington: "I will let no man take me down so low as to let me hate him."

FINKSBURG - The meditation garden, built by the church's youth group, is quiet now, layers of fallen yellow leaves muffling sound.

A brightly painted peace pole in the garden, made by the congregation's children, shines in the morning light.

But the memories of the peace pole's desecration, swastikas scrawled on tables at the sanctuary's entrance and BB gun shots through the church's windows have sent a chill of fear through the congregation.

A spider web pattern of cracks caused by a BB remains in the one window that has not been repaired.

For a period of several weeks from late August into September, the Cedarhurst Unitarian Universalist Association's church in Finksburg was repeatedly vandalized.

[…]

"The best way to fight this is to have the community condemn it," he said.

Simoni-Wastila came to two Westminster Ministerium meetings to gain support, said Tim Thomas, president of the Westminster Ministerium, a consortium of local churches.

"Everyone was of one accord in wanting to condemn any kind of violence and vandalism," Thomas said.

The ministerium also wanted to affirm Simoni-Wastila personally, Thomas said, and give him encouragement.

The Rev. Dan Knight, pastor of First Church of God of Westminster, agreed.

"My heart goes out to Henry as one member of the clergy to another," he said.

[…]

(Rev. Henry Simoni-Wastila) quoted Booker T. Washington: "I will let no man take me down so low as to let me hate him."

[…]


Read the rest of the article here: Repeated violations shake Cedarhurst Universalists

http://www.carrollcountytimes.com/articles/2006/11/18/features/religion/religionhatehitschuch.txt