LIBERTY, Mo. — Greater than 1,000 kilos of grapes have been not too long ago stolen from a Liberty church, squashing the congregation’s hopes of continuous one in all its traditions.
Pastor Michael Kern with Hosanna! Lutheran Church mentioned the congregation had plans to select the harvest after a Sunday service, however 1,500 kilos of the fruit weren’t within the winery.
“Yearly we have now a convention the place we harvest the grapes from the winery,” Kern mentioned. “We love bringing the youngsters out right here, they usually lower all of the clumps of grapes after which we flip the grapes into communion wine and that’s the wine we use for communion every 12 months.”
5 rows of vines outdoors their property have been there for greater than 15 years, and Kern mentioned they have been instructed this 12 months’s crop can be the very best they’ve seen.
“Within the bible, it talks about Jesus is the vine and we’re the branches and we’re known as to bear fruit so, it’s type of cool to see God working that development out proper in entrance of us,” he mentioned.
However their fruitful season was ripped away.
“We knew that the grapes have been there final Monday when somebody got here to verify on them,” he mentioned. “Sadly, we acquired right here, and the grapes have been gone. They’d been picked already; not simply eaten off by animals, however truly had been lower off the vine and have been gone.”
Liberty police are wanting into the uncommon crop theft, of which the grapes are valued at $1,500.
“It positively needed to be somebody who knew what they have been doing,” he mentioned. “We don’t care a lot in regards to the grapes, the worth of the grapes. It’s simply one thing we love doing. It was extra somebody type of stole our pleasure a little bit bit.”
However the church is selecting to maneuver ahead with much more pleasure, they usually aren’t on the lookout for any donations.
Their wine producer in Excelsior Springs nonetheless will present wine for communion.
