Sunday service continued at Trinity Anglican Church on Collier Street in downtown Barrie this morning, albeit in their auditorium, after severe vandalism occurred inside the building last Monday.
Worshippers made the best of the situation, using plastic chairs and utilizing an upright piano in place of their organ, which was tipped over by the vandal, where it currently remains. The amount of damage to the organ, if any, is still undetermined.
The insurance company has instructed church officials not to touch or move anything, and the insurance adjuster has yet to visit the church as of Sunday afternoon.
Shortly after 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 22, city police responded to a report of a break-and-enter in progress at the Collier Street church.
The suspect entered the church after a stained-glass window located on the northwest side had been broken.
Police said they observed a "significant" amount of damage to property that included an organ, pews and a Christmas nativity scene.
“The suspect responsible was eventually located precariously balancing on a beam that spanned across the front altar area and, after utilizing some successful de-escalation techniques, (officers) were able to convince him to come down and surrender to police,” Barrie police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon said in a news release.
A 32-year-old man, of no fixed address, was taken into custody and transported to police headquarters where he was charged with mischief over $5,000 and break and enter. The accused had been held in custody and was scheduled to appear in a Barrie court last Tuesday for a bail hearing.
The main damage, however, is the window that was smashed, which is stained glass and dates back to the 1930s.
There was also damage to a large wooden screen with carvings, which was broken apart.
“This parish has been through far worse situations. It’s had fires and all sorts of things. It has survived and picked itself back up,” Rev. Canon Simon Bell told BarrieToday during an interview at the church on Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s upsetting, but at the end of the day it’s not the end of the world.”
Sunday’s service seemed to voice an air of forgiveness.
“We come before you as a community to pray, and praise. Be with us, and with the young man who was driven to this act. Restore him to full health,” they preached.
Marina Laking, a church organist for 30 years, says she was devastated when she heard about the state of the organ.
“I was very upset,” she tells BarrieToday after the service at the church.
“When I came in I was rather heartened, because I don’t think there was a lot of terrible damage done to it. It’s been toppled over. I’m hoping that other than needing a good tuning, that it will be OK,” Laking says.
“I guess it represents a very sad state of our young people and the homeless today, the result of their anxiety and their anger, that things like this happen,” she adds.
Hensely Alexander, a worshipper at the church since 2015, is troubled by the recent act of vandalism.
“I think it’s really a disaster, and I don’t think it was called for,” he says. “We try our best to help other people in this parish.”
Rev. Janet Mitchell, who led the Sunday service, has no issues with moving the service into the auditorium temporarily.
“It was fine,” she says. “It’s a change, but we worshipped here all during COVID, down here, so we’re accustomed to it.”
