Friends,
This last Sunday around 3am, the alarm was tripped in the office. I came down and met the police, who had arrived promptly and already conducted a search of the building. No one remained and their search yielded some strange happenings throughout the church. Someone had been inside the church, that is clear. Multiple faucets were turned on to a small flow and pieces of toilet paper were placed in the sink; had no one responded to the office alarm, it is likely that the building would have seen some water damage. The good news is that nothing otherwise was vandalized or stolen, and the church building remains in good standing.
The entry point for the intruder was the most interesting part of this story. The exit door of the Parish Hall (the one hardly utilized) held a key dangling in it. The person(s) had access via a key that they either already had, or by one that was lost Either way, this is something that needs remedied, and soon. After speaking with the vestry, we have elected to change the locks on the exterior doors of the church. New keys will be available for members of the varying ministries that need them full-time, as well as keys for sign-out for individual days of non-recurring events.
Truth be told, I’m not concerned about the safety of our church. We live in a good area and have good neighbors. Most likely, this was a case of a couple of kids ‘being kids’. However, I feel that given the amount of work and maintenance we have committed here over the last few years, we owe it to ourselves to maintain and ensure the security of the building. I am also looking into a security system (to be monitored by a company) to be installed, soon. We’re not turning into Fort Knox, but the vestry and I agreed that a whole-building system would be beneficial for the needs of the church.
Your continued vigilance and care is always appreciated. We all love this place and we all want to see it thrive. Give me a call if you have any questions or concerns; I’m always happy to talk to any of you about anything.
Faithfully,
Fr. Sean+