Teenagers apologise to congregation
Scene inside Bassingbourn Parish Church after the incident
Two teenagers apologised to parishioners after causing £1,000 of damage to Bassingbourn Parish Church. The 15-year-old boys broke into Bassingbourn Parish Church where they caused havoc by setting off two fire extinguishers.
The Revd Dr Donald McFadyen, Vicar of Bassingbourn said: "The whole of the main part of the church was covered in this fine dust. All the pews were covered, all the bibles were covered in dust. It was everywhere. It looked like a bomb had gone off." The church contacted the Cambridgeshire police.
A parishioner recognised one of the group of six young people as they fled, and phoned his father. He immediately came up to the church with his son and was horrified by what he saw. Other parents soon appeared and all were deeply distressed. The next day the parents of one of the boys who'd set off an extinguisher came to the vicarage with their son to apologise. "I was surprised, delighted and impressed that they came" said Dr McFadyen. "It was a bright light in the midst of a dark situation. They offered to do whatever they could to make up for what he'd done, including paying for damage to the church and helping to clear up. I said that these were really important, but best of all would be for the young man to come to the church on Sunday morning and apologise to the congregation. The boy agreed without hesitation and, together with his friend who had let off the other extinguisher, came to the front and read out their words of apology. " I then asked the congregation to stand if they wanted to accept the apology. As far as I'm aware all did, and I then led them in saying, 'We forgive you'. It was a poignant moment for us as a village community."
Cambridgeshire police have treated the matter as a serious crime, and have worked closely with Dr McFadyen throughout, encouraging the young men to make reparation for what they did.
Dr McFadyen later recounted, "On the Friday before the lads came to apologise Archbishop Rowan Williams had addressed the clergy of the Diocese in Ely. He'd talked to us of the power of the gospel to speak words of life into situations, contrasted with words of death. I had his words in mind as I tried to steer us through this incident and I hope the outcome was an example of life. Condemnation is easy and attractive, but leads nowhere. Forgiveness opens up new possibilities for relationships. That's certainly what we've seen happen here."
Dr McFadyen was interviewed by Matthew Bannister on the Radio 2 "Jeremy Vine Show", BBC Look East and BBC Radio Cambridgeshire following this incident. It was also reported in several publications, links to some of which are below.
"Boys to escape charges" - Cambridge Evening News 30th January 2009
Telegraph.co.uk article 28th January 2009