Annette Stover has a message for the person who vandalized a dozen Easter signs on the front lawn of her Evanston church.
“There’s a lot of actions taken against Christians around the world,” said Stover, who is communications chair with the First Presbyterian Church of Evanston. “This isn’t just an innocent thing. It’s a worldwide anti-Christian focus people are engaging in.”
A dozen colorful Easter lawn signs outside the church in the 1400 block of Chicago Avenue in the north suburb were pulled up, damaged and thrown into the street between the late evening hours of March 28 and early morning hours of March 29. Police are investigating the incident as an act of vandalism and criminal damage.
Stover said the lawn signs had Easter messages including Jesus Lives, Jesus Is Risen and He Lives.
She said the incident was especially hurtful because it happened during Holy Week, the seven days on the Christian calendar between Palm Sunday and Easter, observed with special solemnity as a time of devotion.
“I think they’re sending a message that they think it’s okay to destroy our Christian symbols on our holiest week,” she said. “I feel like it’s an act against our Christian faith.”
She also said the church will have more signs up before Easter. If Stover could talk to the person who damaged the signs, she said she would invite them to the church’s March 31 Easter service.
“Maybe they’d learn something they never knew before,” she said. “The Christian religion is very important to many millions of people around the world.”
Brian L. Cox is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.
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