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Dear Ones,

I am very sorry to have to report that our church was broken into on Wednesday, 7/21/2021. The good news is that no people were harmed and nothing essential to worship was damaged or stolen. However, we did lose most of our audio-visual equipment.

It is always such an awful feeling when a place that is meant to be safe and comforting is violated in this way. Hard as it is, we must all find it in our hearts to pray for those who have hurt us in this way.

I’m very grateful to Janet Lane and Bob Holm, who have been dealing with the police and going through everything to be sure there isn’t further damage or theft elsewhere on campus, and to our custodian Francisco, who was the one who discovered the situation and alerted us. Gabe Avila has been extraordinary, as usual, as he already had a complete list of the equipment and all the information needed in order to begin the replacement process. We will be upgrading our security to try to prevent this from happening again.

We are still assessing how this will affect our Sunday services. Please be patient while we sort through our options and be on the lookout for more information in our Friday email.

I hope you will join me in praying for St. Martin’s, both thanking God that things were not worse and keeping our focus on what matters most–the people who gather for worship and service, loving God and our neighbor at all times and in all circumstances.

“Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
–Book of Common Prayer, page 817

Blessings,
Pamela+