A letter from the Rector to the people of Trinity, Easton 
A word about the baby Jesus that was stolen from Trinity's outdoor manger before Christmas
Dear Friends,

Sometime before Christmas Eve, someone stole the Baby Jesus figure from our outdoor creche. They had to cut a 1/2 inch vinyl coated cable to do it.

I did not discover this until the Sunday after Christmas as our procession passed the creche, but it turns out that it was gone well before that. We generally have left the whole set out starting 1 Advent Eve until the Saturday after the Epiphany. But the missing Jesus did not cause undue concern because parishioners assumed that we had decided to hold back putting the infant figure into the manger until Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, just as we do for the indoor creche. So while our attention to Advent-waiting may have helped cover the thief's tracks, this little fact of our common life is at also a sign that we, as a community, pay attention to what is really important. This was an artifact of what it means to be Episcopalian. 

The figures started being secured with the locked cable after Jesus went for a walk once in early Advent 2003 but was returned well before Christmas with a note of apology. 

Anyway, after I discovered the theft I put up a post on social media through our Facebook page and our Twitter account asking for its return... no questions asked. Since the actual monetary value of the piece was probably only about $75 we decided not file a police report unless we found serious attendant vandalism. None was found, so we decided not to hit the panic (or the anger) button.

Our Facebook post went viral. First, with some Trinity members sharing the story, and then their friends and family, and then it went from there. It went on the Easton PA unofficial FB page and on the Mayor's page, too. 

Sunday afternoon, the Easton Express-Times called  and did a story. They posted their story on FB, and it went viral...and since it linked back to our website and FB page, our original post went even further.

Today, WFMZ-TV sent a crew to do a story,  including a live report from the church at 4:30 and 6, as well as on their web-site. 

[Oddly enough, mention was made on the Episcopal Cafe. Hmm. Imagine that!]

Thank you, one and all, for helping us get the word out!  Sr. Patricia Michael, Br. John-Aelred, and I have fielded e-mails, tweets, instant messages and phone calls. Trinity has received offers to be given a new nativity set, to purchase a set for next to nothing, offers of money to buy a new set as well as plenty of support and prayer. Of course, some trolls have surfaced, but the kindness and generosity from friends and strangers alike have far outweighed those. 

The angry responses of some of the people who have commented on the posts and from others who have experienced similar acts frankly amazes me. 

A follow-up story in the Easton Express-Times notes that several other Jesus' in eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey have gone missing from other outdoor displays. A press spokesman for a Roman Catholic diocese in northern New Jersey has said that their parishes have been instructed to call the police immediately and that they will prosecute any nativity raiders who are caught. There is even some kind of National Christmas Center in eastern PA (who knew?) where one of their Jesus' went missing and they also are threatening prosecution. 

Personally, in an age when black churches are burned down across the South--a fact that hardly makes the news at all--and especially after the shootings at Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, SC, last summer, I find all of this attention kind of embarrassing. After all it's a $50 or $75 piece of plastic molded to look like an Aryan baby. The work we do in the Ark Soup Kitchen and with ProJeCt and Safe Harbor to feed the hungry and homeless poor every week reveals a scandal far deeper than a missing statue, and that doesn't make the 6 o'clock news, either.

Some folks in the congregation want to secure the site...a plexiglass barrier around the creche and even a security camera has been suggested. But, you know, the world has enough walls. Think of the wall dividing in two the Bethlehem where Jesus was born. Do we really want the Church to be building more walls? Does the world need any more of that kind of help?

We'll do what we need to do to make our church building safe, but if we are going to be a church in the city--especially a congregation that is out front in communicating Jesus-- we have to be ready to take the brickbats as well as the bouquets. 

It is certainly normal to feel violated, disappointed, and even angry. Of course, we hope for the statues return; but the real challenge is what we do with those feelings and how we channel that energy. I am asking us all to choose hope and to look for how we are communicating Jesus that goes beyond a plastic statue. 

In the end, a message that is calm, forgiving, and steadfast will communicate a Gospel with greater power than a static display. We carry with us a joyful gospel, a powerful gospel. This is the good news of Jesus...God with us! 

One way or another, our creche will be made whole, and we will continue to display Jesus-- and not just in near-life-sized figurines, but in the lives of real people who have been touched by the real Jesus and whose lives have been changed in real, tangible ways. 

A good place to begin is to pray for the people who took this statue. Having stolen a toy Jesus from a display, may they find the real Jesus in their lives and hearts.

Thanks for your prayers and continued support.

Faithfully, 

Andrew+

The Rev. Canon Andrew Gerns, Rector

Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 
Trinity Episcopal Church
234 Spring Garden Street
Easton, Pennsylvania 18042