Posted: 9/22/04
By Barbara Brown
Sundayís gathering at St. John Lutheran Church in Weber was not much different that other Sundays in the Isanti County town. But the service was just a little more special than most.
About two weeks after vandals invaded the church and desecrated the building with spray paint, chocolate sauce and other condiments and general destruction, the congregation was pulling itself back together.
Pastor Kevin Zellers told the congregation at the rededication service, Sept. 19, that the church may not understand why someone would single out St. Johnís to commit such a crime, but that the church would pull through it.
At the start of the service, the chancel area was stark with no dressings. Zellers himself wore none of his traditional vestments.
A brief time into the service, Zellers called for the vestments and parchments and other decorations of the church to be brought forward for a blessing.
Tension, and a left-over feeling of sadness from the vandalism, still hung into the air until several congregants received the blessings and began decorating the chancel once again.
The choir blessed the moment by delivering a moving, sweet version of ìAmazing Grace,î sung from the choir loft that only a few days prior had been spray painted and had music and robes strewn about.
The organ, which church members feared would have to be replaced after it was covered in chocolate syrup, remained at the side of the choir, freshly cleaned with no evidence of its recent violation.
Organist Elena Piastro said she hoped to be able to play the instrument again this coming Sunday.
A quiet, moving blessing may have started the healing process for the church, Zellers said.
ìThirteen days ago we saw the face of evil right here in this sanctuary,î he said during his sermon.
ìMost of us were appalled, we couldnít believe our eyes. Itís still difficult to get some of the images out of our minds.
ìThese things happen, but they happen some place else to somebody else.
So why here?
ìThe short answer is this: sin. We live in a fallen world, among fallen people and we cannot escape it.
ìAs God is blessing all our efforts, he is turning evil into good and we will survive it.î
There is still no update on the Isanti County Sheriffís Office investigation into the vandalism except that it is continuing, Isanti County Sheriff Mike Ammend said.
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