Episcopal church stripped by vandals

[swiburn]

Sadly to read, Sts. Philip and Stephen on Frankfort on the east side is closing due to their being nothing left. The thieves got it all, complete with using a crowbar to open the front door.

[rooms222]

More details here:


http://www.the-record.org/news200903...tstephens.html

[LodgeDodger]

I know this is a sin to say, but those thieves deserve death. Nothing would make me happier than to learn someone put a cap in the base of their skulls.as they exited the church,

[rajdet]

...Nothing would make me happier than to learn someone put a cap in the base of their skulls....

There is nothing lower than stealing a persons hope and faith! A cap to the base of the skull is too good for them. How about a thousand razorblades and a gallon of lemon juice first.

[Lorax]

Not before their fingernails were peeled back using a pair of pliers. Then move on to the lemon juice and razor blades.

[Mama Jackson]

I find it ironic that the very people who perhaps did the robbery, may have had family members who received help there.

So sad for the church and the families who worshipped there and received the benefits.

[LeannaM]

This probably isn't a Christian thing to say, but anyone who desecrates a church deserves to be shot.

I don't live in Detroit, but it seems like some Detroit citizens are their own worst enemy. They can't get a job, so they steal. People get tired of their homes and businesses being stripped, so they leave the city, or the state altogether. Therefore, there's less tax base, less businesses, fewer jobs. Then these citizens can't get a job, so they steal and scrap and brick rustle...

It's like a never-ending cycle.

[rajdet]

They can't get a job, so they steal...
It's like a never-ending cycle.

I think a man without a job will steal a loaf of bread to feed his family. I think a guy who robs a church is feeding the business end of his crack pipe.

[Sludgedaddy]

Do vigilantes have a patron saint?

[g-dub]

Do vigilantes have a patron saint?

Yes, and his name is Chuck Norris.

[Retroit]

Hell sure is going to be crowded!

[Lorax]

I hope the archdiocese sells off the pieces of the church to benefit charity, as they did with St. Rose of Lima and demolish the shell rather than let scrappers finish the job a few days after it's closed.

It WILL be stripped when the 'hood gets wind that it's vacant.

[g-dub]

I was thinking the same thing. If they've made the decision to close, they should beat the lowlifes to the punch and strip the place themselves and sell every piece for every penny they can get. It's a rather brutal approach, but the Wild West reality dictates that it's the church's mission vs. the crackheads.

[stinkbug]

I hope the archdiocese sells off the pieces of the church to benefit charity, as they did with St. Rose of Lima and demolish the shell rather than let scrappers finish the job a few days after it's closed.

It WILL be stripped when the 'hood gets wind that it's vacant.

It's an EPISCOPAL church not a CATHOLIC church.
There is no Archdiocese. It is the Diocese of Michigan for the Anglicans.

[Lorax]

It's an EPISCOPAL church not a CATHOLIC church.
There is no Archdiocese. It is the Diocese of Michigan for the Anglicans.

Sorry- what's with the third degree?

I guess there's a reason you're called STINKBUG.

[swiburn]

The closed churches seem to just sit there-I'm sure the interior valuables are removed. There aren't too many Episcopal churches left in Detroit-ones on Grand River, Manistique, Cadillac, E. 7 Mile, Hubbell are all gone now-as well as their social services to the community.

[SWMAP]

The AOD tried to keep strippers out of St. Rita Church during the time it was up for sale. That was a huge, valuable property with church and buildings well-maintained. In the end, I think they took less than a million for it because it had been stripped - despite the full-time presence of secuity guards since the day the parish closed.

[Onthe405]

This is sad and unjust. Yet another case of the bad few ruining the situation for everybody else. Jane & Jim and their tiny parish stuck it out even though they had been vandalized and broken into multiple times because they feel a calling to better their community. I guess this is the reward their neighbors give them. Stripped of whatever minimal resources they have to serve others.


As swiburn stated, the majority of these outlying parishes in Detroit have already closed as the urban prairie expanded and crime crippled their ability to function. Most of them were small neighborhood churches, not that valuable in assets or land. In Detroit, the ECUSA was never as expansive and culturally significant as the Roman Catholic Church, since most of the city’s immigrants were born into the RC tradition.

There are about 15 parishes left in the city proper, several of them predominately African American, and the Diocese of MI maintains its offices at the Cathedral Church of St Paul on Woodward in the cultural center. On the bright side, some of these holdouts are still quite vibrant and architecturally resplendent. In addition to the Cathedral, St Peter’s in Corktown, Old Christ Church near RenCen, and All Saints near Palmer Woods are racially & demographically diverse oases in a city known for its primarily segregated worship. St John’s next to Comerica is also historically significant and beautiful, but largely an old-school WASP group.

[daddeeo]

It seems like the law of the jungle is rearing it's ugly head again here.