By Barbara Brown

With heavy hearts and tears occasionally welling in their eyes, members of St. Johnís Lutheran Church gathered at the church Tuesday to start the clean up process after the church was ransacked sometime Sunday night.

From the pastorís office to the choir loft evidence of the intrusion were obvious everywhere.

According to church secretary Barb Kittelson, of Isanti, the break-in and vandalism occurred sometime between 1 p.m. Sunday and 8 a.m. Monday.

She said after regular church services some members of the congregation gathered in the community room for coffee, but the doors to the building were locked by her son at 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

At about 8 a.m., another church member had arrived at the church to paint in the preschool rooms and found that someone had come through and wreaked havoc from one end of the church to the other.

The member, also an elder of the church, ran to the parsonage next door to alert Pastor Kevin Zellers to the destruction. The Isanti County Sheriffís Office arrived shortly afterward.

By 9 a.m, church elder and North Branch resident Lloyd Nelson arrived at the church to survey the damage.

ìWhen I saw what happened yesterday I just wanted to lay on the floor and cry,î Nelson said. Mostly, he was in awe of the damage that could be done to a church. He said the church membership, about 250 people, did not believe anyone from the church had anything to do with the vandalism.

In the pastorís study, at the rear of the building, a window screen had been ripped and a window was open.

Members of the congregation Tuesday morning said they were not sure if the suspects got into the building by breaking in the window or if they had somehow loosened a low grate where an air conditioning unit once sat.

The unit had been removed to control a minor mold problem that had been detected, Kittelson said.

The metal grate, about three feet long and about one foot tall, is located near the floor of the study.

In the pastorís study, books lay around the room where they landed when they were swiped off the shelves.

The computer had substances appearing to be paint or food on it. The printer was open and the ink cartridge removed, with small pieces on the floor below.

Across the hall, the church office and the school office remained undisturbed.

Down the hall into the preschool area, papers, markers, crayons, toys and supplies were thrown around the room.

In the middle of the room, three small dolls lay askew. Hair from the dolls covered the floor around them where it had been chopped off.

Spray paint covered a chalkboard and teaching tools stapled to the walls. Large containers of coffee grounds had also been taken from the kitchen and dumped throughout the room.

In another hallway leading to the community room, spray paint had been used to write sexually-driven messages and curse words on the walls.

In the kitchen, sugar and flour covered nearly every surface, an empty can of spray paint was tipped over on top of the gas stove.

Glass plates and other dishes had been removed from the cabinets and taken into the community room where they were smashed on, under and around the tables.

Tempura paint from the churchís own supplies were randomly squirted over nearly every table and the carpet. Mustard was used to spell out HELL on the carpeted floor near the kitchen.

Boxes of music were thrown from the upstairs choir loft into the sanctuary below, creating a pile of papers and decorations that practically blocked the main aisle.

One choir robe was spray painted and remained on its hanger where it dangled over the railing of the choir loft.

The churchís organ will need a thorough cleaning to remove the chocolate syrup squirted on the keys and knobs.

Below, in the sanctuary, a white powdery substance coated nearly every pew and reached into the altar area from the discharge of fire extinguishers.

Along the north wall, between the beautiful stained glass windows, an unintelligible message read: ìW U devil Devil I hate.î

Despite the few random notes eluding to hatred and the devil, other messages or words on the walls seemed less volatile, including one in a closet that seems to read ìWhatís Up Romin.î

In the altar area, a maxi pad had been stuck to the main Bible, communion wafers covered the floor and some of the pastorís vestments were strewn about.

The communion wine did not appear touched.

The major symbols of the church and Christianity were not touched, including a statue of Jesus Christ with arms raised looking over the sanctuary from the back and the stained glass windows, two of which date to the early 1900s.

The church was founded in 1870 and had not experienced a crime of this nature in that time.

Isanti County Sheriff Mike Ammend was adamant that the perpetrators would be caught.

ìWe have basically dropped everything else for right now and weíre investigating this crime,î Ammend said Tuesday morning as he again visited the church to look at the damage and talk to church members.

Ammend said the area does not have a history, recent or long-passed, of vandals. He said another church in Isanti County had been broken into about eight years ago, but that case was a theft.

In the St. Johnís case, nothing appeared to have been stolen, Ammend said. ìThat probably indicates it was juveniles,î he said. ìThey were here just to vandalize, not to steal.î

ìWe have three investigators working on this case. This is a despicable kind of act and weíre going to find out who is responsible.î

Damages at the church could exceed $100,000. To help St. Johnís Lutheran Church in the clean-up and repair efforts, donations can be made to:

Vandalism Relief Fund
MinnCo Credit Union
235 First Ave. W.
Cambridge, MN 55008

To volunteer services, call the church at (763) 444-5988

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