When churchgoers arrived for services August 30 at Second Union Baptist Church, they were in for an unwelcome surprise: Four of the stained glass windows were boarded up with plywood, as were the windows in the historic school building nearby.

Over the previous weekend vandals had struck the church on Hadensville-Fife Road, leaving numerous broken windows and other damage.

Now members hope someone will come forward with information on the vandalism.

“As of now there are no leads,” said Second Union Trustee John Trent last week. “We hope media attention will help.”

The vandalism occurred sometime during the night of August 28-29, said Sheriff James L. Agnew.

“No one saw anything,” said Agnew, “So we have very little evidence to go on. Hopefully someone in the community knows something and will contact us.”

The church and an adjacent school building suffered 21 broken windows, including four stained glass windows, said Agnew.

“They broke every window in the school,” said Trent, a Richmond City firefighter and former Goochland Deputy Sheriff.

The cross on the sign in front of the church was bent and two fiberglass fence rails were removed from the fence in front of the church. It is believed they were used to break the windows.

“Something like this, it kind of devastates you,” said Trent. “Why would someone do this to a church?”

The church had just completed $40,000 of renovations in early August, including a new porch, handicapped ramps and the new sign that now bears a bent over cross.

“That makes it all the more distressing,” said Agnew.

Sunday morning services were held in the fellowship hall, since cleanup of the broken glass in the sanctuary was not complete.

“I don’t think all the members knew about the damage until they came to church Sunday morning,” said Trent.

Church members were still waiting on an estimate of damages from their insurance company late last week, said Trent.

Persons with information about the crime are asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 780-1000 or Investigator Mike East with the Goochland Sheriff’s Office at 556-5349.

Broken stained glass window at Second Union Baptist Church