| Vandals strike College Park UMC By Melissa LauberUMConnection Staff Va ndals broke into College Park UMC May 20 cutting a path of senseless destruction throughout the church building. In his 22 years of police work in Prince Georges County, Major Roberto Hylton said, he had never witnessed anything worse done to a place of worship. Initial estimates place the damage at $25,000. As she scrubbed fire extinguisher spray and globs of ketchup from the walls of the kitchen, one church member compared the chaos and destruction to that left by a cyclone. It is beyond the pale, member Lars Wilcut told television reporters as he mopped the floor in the fellowship hall. Unbelievable, was how Finance Committee Chairman Luther Ghiz, who photographed the damage for the church, described the scene. Someone had to work really hard to do this much damage, he said.  According to the Rev. Harry Baxter, the churchs pastor, the vandals broke into the church through a window between 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. on that Tuesday afternoon. They overturned bookshelves, wrote obscenities on the sanctuary walls, used the baptismal font as a battering ram to break open a door, took apart the Christ candle, poured jars of condiments onto kitchen floors and walls, ransacked a closet full of craft supplies, sprayed fire extinguishers, broke glass communion cups and performed many other destructive acts.
But amid the damage, Baxter focused on faith and repeatedly relayed a message of hope to the media that descended upon the church on the day following the break-in. Thats what were all about, he said. The church is in the business of hope. Ive seen nothing but hope today. Baxter said he was particularly touched by the outpouring of concern from individuals and organizations that reached out to the church with offers of assistance. Members of the International Brotherhood of Iron Workers called the church and said, because it was raining they had a free day and offered their labor. Pastors from churches of several denominations called to see how their congregations might help. Neighbors dropped in and assisted with the clean-up efforts and one woman offered a vase she had received for Mothers Day to the church to hold the altar flowers if necessary. Although you know it, its good to be reminded how much the presence of the church means in the community, Hamilton said. Of particular importance to the church members was keeping the Meals on Wheels program, which provides food to more than 30 elderly people in the area, in operation. As soon as the police cleared the scene, church members were on hand cleaning the kitchen. In the interim, Joe Lasicks, the owner of a nearby restaurant, provided meals. Such generosity moved Baxter. You know thats how people are, he said, but sometimes you lose sight of it. Baxter also expressed concern about the five young people, ranging in age from 9 to 14, whom police took into custody in connection with the damage. One man from the neighborhood stopped by the church to tell police about a group of boys he saw trying to get into the church through a window the day of the break-in. He stopped his car and the boys ran off. I thought Id stopped them, he said. On May 25, one of those boys, who is 9-years-old, faced the congregation to apologize. He told us his first name, Baxter said. He was sobbing. He told us he was sorry. He sobbed more than he said anything. Lay leaders from the church accepted the boys apology on behalf of the congregation. We do not say we understand what you did nor do we condone it, but you as our brother are important to us. We pray that together we can find answers and grow in ways which God is leading us and we pray that you and your family will experience Gods grace and forgiveness in the days ahead. The congregation then prayed for all of the boys who broke into their church and gave thanks for Gods grace in all that happened, Baxter said. Some church members expressed concern that such an incident will taint Baxters final memories of the church and the ministry. He will retire at the end of June. But Baxter draws analogies between this incident and his pottery class. In both throwing pots on a wheel and dealing with adversity, he said, one needs to keep things centered. College Park UMC is, and will continue to be, centered in Christ. In his o ffice, which was turned upside down by the vandals, Baxter recalled the late Barbara Duchene, a member of the church whose house was destroyed last year in the tornado that swept through College Park. She said she didnt despair, because for her, the destruction meant a new beginning, Baxter said. An artificial flower arrangement Duchene made for the church was knocked off the altar and lay strewn on the floor of the chancel area. As the mess in the church is cleaned up, Baxter is convinced that members have already begun to adopt Duchenes legacy as they move beyond the destruction to create a new beginning for the church. | 
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