When Pastor John Freeman arrived at Open Bible Church on Thursday, June 26, he made an unsettling discovery: a layer of foam from fire extinguishers covered the floor of the church lobby and sanctuary. Paint covered the walls, floors and carpets of various rooms throughout the church. Glass was broken, doors forced open, televisions broken, and furniture slashed.
“I was in denial,” said Freeman. “As I walked upstairs and downstairs, it was total shock.”
According to a release from the Richland County Sheriff’s Office, on June 26 deputies responded to a breaking and entering at Open Bible Church located at 1150 Rayfield Drive in Mansfield. On June 27, the Detective Bureau received the case and established there were five juvenile suspects involved.
Freeman was familiar with the five suspects. In fact, on Wednesday, June 25 the five suspects had attended Open Bible Church’s youth service along with approximately 75 to 100 fellow teenagers. Freeman said the suspects were acting up during the service, threatening to fight and talking back to the youth pastor.
“They were told to stop and be quiet and they didn’t, so finally there was a discipline and we sent them home,” remembered Freeman. “They left angry.”
According to Freeman, the suspects returned to the church at around 11 p.m. on June 25 and entered by breaking open a window to the youth room. Then the destruction began.
Deputies from the Richland County Sheriff’s Department discovered the suspects had extensively damaged the church by breaking items and throwing paint on the walls, floors and carpets.
“Gallons of paint were poured on the floor,” said Freeman. “They broke into a craft supply room and used 40 bottles of acrylic paint plus three gallons of regular paint from a downstairs storage room.”
Deputies further discovered the suspects broke glass, forced open doors, broke televisions, slashed furniture with a knife and pulled stuffing out of the furniture.
“They ripped more than 20 bibles, just shredded them,” said Freeman. “I don’t know why they did that, perhaps just as a protest. Their way of saying ‘we don’t like the authorities here.’”
In addition, the suspects set off a fire extinguisher, lit candles and dripped hot wax on the carpeted floors, and obtained tools from inside the church to pry open a vending machine, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
“It was one of those ‘nobody is telling me what to do’ attitudes,” said Freeman. “I like these kids; I know them and like them. But their anger and judgment was really bad. And all of a sudden what was ‘payback’ has turned into a major deal for them.”
After receiving professional estimates from businesses in Mansfield, Freeman estimates the damages to cost $50,257. An insurance claim has been filed and approved, and Freeman hopes to receive around $40,000 to start rebuilding and repairing the church. Open Bible Church has been on Rayfield Drive since 1962 after moving from downtown Mansfield, with Freeman himself serving as the pastor for the past 13 years, and he said this is the first vandalism incident the church has experienced.
Approximately 500 volunteer hours have been logged and three full-size dumpsters filled to the brim in the church’s clean-up effort. Freeman said ruined carpet was removed from the youth room, the fellowship hall and the Sunday school room.
“Eight Sunday school teachers paid for their room out of their own pocket, so it is a high priority to get this room back,” said Freeman. “Materials were ruined, and many student projects were ruined.”
On July 22, a request for charges was sent to the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office for all five juveniles involved. Four suspects that were involved in the case admitted to their involvement. The fifth suspect was not positively identified until July 21. Freeman stated the oldest of the five juveniles is 17 years old; the youngest is 10 years old.
“Some of our young people were asking if it was right that they told on each other, and I said absolutely,” said Freeman. “This is a crime, this is not a little prank, and so I was proud of the kids for talking to the police about it.”
Despite the extensive damage to the church, Freeman is able to see the incident as a positive. He said he sees the vandalism as a lesson on what could happen if you let anger control you, on working together, but most importantly a lesson on forgiveness.
“Forgiveness has been a big issue,” he said. “Some people who have been in the church their whole lives are really upset, because they labored so hard and then this happens overnight and it’s a mess. Now there’s a bigger issue, which is forgiveness. And how do you handle that?”
Anger was Freeman’s first emotion when he discovered the state of the church on June 26. But he said he realized his anger only made him feel worse.
“You can’t forget, it’s right staring you in the face,” said Freeman. “I think you have to think, what would Jesus do? If he were a member of this church, would he have been mad and say send them to jail? I doubt it. He would probably say, whatever the law does the law does. As far as I’m concerned, and my fellow believers, we forgive them – I have totally forgiven the kids. I feel sorry for them now.”
In fact, Freeman has forgiven the suspects enough to allow them back at the church – with the hope they would make a public apology.
“I would tell them you are welcome, but don’t you think you owe it to the people of the church to say ‘I’m sorry?’ I don’t have to have an explanation,” he said. “Just to say that is enough.”
“As far as I’m concerned, and my fellow believers, we forgive them – I have totally forgiven the kids. I feel sorry for them now,” said Pastor John Freeman.
