SOMONAUK – About 7:15 a.m. the day of the church's Christmas pageant, St. John's Lutheran Church pastor Rev. WIlliam Weidenbach walked into find a jar of olives on the floor of the church and a hole in the stained glass window above.
Between when he had left the evening before and arrived the following morning, someone had launched the jar from outside the rear of the church with such force that it broke through a layer of protective acrylic glass and punching through a stained-glass window.
An announcement was made to the congregation during services that morning, congegation president Herman Hearn said.
"It was a sad moment," he said, with a feeling of "Why did this happen?"
It was short-lived, according to Sunday school teacher Jean Lunt. She said the congregation did not dwell on the vandalism or hold a grudge.
"We weren't going to let it bother us," she said. "We said a prayer for whoever did it."
It was Dec. 10 and that night was supposed to be the church's annual Christmas pageant, Lunt said. The children had been practicing for months.
The church building, located at 235 S. Green St., opened in 1925 and congregation members said the broken window dated to that time. The window depicts a scene of Jesus leading a flock of sheep and carrying a lamb. A rectangular patch of cardboard now covers his left side, sealing the hole made by the jar of olives.
The congregation itself can be traced back farther, to 1860, when a group of German settlers in Somonauk first met to organize a church, according to the church's website.The first record book was given a German title.
After the broken window was discovered, a police report was filed, specifying that the jar contained blue cheese stuffed olives. Neither Hearn nor Weidenbach suspected anyone in particular as causing the damage, beleiving it to be a random act.
Lunt said some had suggested the jar was launched with a slingshot or potato launcher somehow because of the height and that the jar went through both the plexiglass and the window itself. The hole is at the height of a second story.
Hearn said the church had found a company in the Chicago area that could repair the window, but it wouldn't be done until January when they could come out to the church. Insurance is expected to cover the repairs.
"The congregation forgave whoever did it," Lunt said. "It was a different reaction, and that's important."