EMMANUEL Church in South Street generally welcomes visitors through its doors on Sunday, but not through its windows, as happened on Saturday night. Intruders left a trail of shattered glass and twisted metal over the pews and floor to greet the worshippers gathering for the usual service of Holy Communion on Sunday morning. A side window was found to have been smashed, after the intruder or intruders had first wrenched off a thick perspex shield, and then hurled a lump of concrete through the bottom of a eight-pane lead-window, with such force that broken glass was showered right across the width of the church floor. The church safe was also overturned and its lock forced in an attempt to open it, but both proved unsuccessful. While nothing of great material significance was stolen, as warden, Alistair Jaffray admits, ("indeed there is very little to steal, as Emmanuel is very simply furnished,") the intruders did damage a small communion set which is often used when visiting unwell members at home, and a bottle of Holy Communion wine was also taken. The burglar or burglars, also ate some of the food which had been prepared for an after funeral meal taking place the following day for a much-loved member of the church. Ken Veitch, also a warden at Emmanuel church, was generous in his reaction to the vandalism. "After the initial disgust at the wickedness of this person or persons, it was felt that the Christian response was to pray for them, that they might repent of this misdeed and prayers were offered during the Communion service." Police officers who attended the scene found several fingerprints, and our currently working to match them up in their data bank. Alistair Jaffray added: "They left empty handed and refreshed, at least in body if not in spirit," concluding: "Our church's teaching is evangelical and strictly Bible-based; everyone is welcome, provided they come in the proper way."
