Tough Week

It has been a tough week here at the Church of Peace in Rock Island. We had a series of almost daily break ins at the church that seemed to come to a conclusion on Thursday morning. Early that morning the Rock Island Police found a broken window when patroling the building and when they entered the building they found a suspect hiding under a desk in an office.


The photo at the left is a police officer dusting a computer for fingerprints. It is not quite the television program CSI, but many objects were investigated for evidence.


I was impressed with the outflow of concern about our situation. Two of the neighborhood pastors visited with me at the church to offer their help and to show their concern. They assurred me that our church will be in their prayers this coming Sunday. It is good to be reminded that we are not alone trying to do God's work in our neighborhood.


The officers interviewed members of the church staff and the staff of the Community Caring Conference about the incidents.



It is surprisingly stressful to be the victims of crime. (I guess we should remember this, especially since the Community Caring Conference offers a program of assistance to victims of crime! But somehow it is always different when one is personally involved.)

Yesterday morning there was a television crew here from the local NBC affiliate to do a story about the situation. It is always a dilimma - on the one hand we want to tell our story, on the other hand I always fear looking silly or saying something in a way that I did not intend. When I was finished with the interview one of the staff brushed some powdered sugar from a doughnut off of my face. Well, fortunately that did not show up on the television.


If you look carefully at this third photo you will see that the pane of glass to the left of the door is in place. And the one on the right has been broken out. Broken glass is visible on the carpet along with a lamp that is flipped on its side. My (limited) experience with with a church burglery is that far more damage and expense comes from people breaking into things that from the stuff that they take.

Our neighbors have shown deep respect for the church for over a century. This set of break ins is so unusual based on our previous experience. It makes me sad to think that there are folks so desperate that they feel compelled to steal from a church and do damage to God's house.