‘Immediately felt violated’: Winnipeg church reeling after cherished artifacts stolen

Winnipeg police are investigating the theft of religious artifacts from a Winnipeg church. CTV’s Danton Unger reports.

The parish of a Winnipeg church that had cherished artifacts stolen in a break-in is still reeling, as police call on the public for help finding the missing items.

Police said the break-in happened sometime between July 29 and July 30 at All Saints’ Anglican Church on Broadway Avenue.

A suspect or suspects threw a large rock through a stained-glass window, police said, causing over $3,000 in damage.

“They made their way into the sacristy,” said Const. Claude Chancy, public information officer with the Winnipeg Police Service.

“This could be a suspect or suspects (who) made their way inside and stole a lot of the artifacts that are used for the church services.”

Among them - communion plates and a chalice, all of which hold sentimental or religious meaning.

“The fact that these items are all in the same area and that nothing else was stolen, of course, is perplexing, but they are very unique in nature,” Const. Chauncy said.

‘It was very shocking’

Reverend Rob Schoeck, who is rector at the church, said he discovered the items had been stolen while preparing for a church service.

“I immediately felt violated, frustrated, angry, unsure of why and how this could happen—filled with those deep emotions of having something so important taken from us so suddenly and so violently in the dark hours of the night,” he said.

To make matters worse, Schoeck said the stained-glass window was part of the church’s original structure and was almost 100 years old.

The incident has left the community unsettled.

“It was very shocking at first in the moment,” Schoeck said.

The stolen items are either 100 per cent silver or pewter, and most are inscribed with religious lettering or symbols.

Schoeck said many of them were given by parishioners in memory of loved ones, some of which date back to the ‘50s.

It’s not the first time the church has been targeted by thieves, he added.

Its cross was stolen a few decades ago during a break-in. It was missing for several years before it reappeared on the church’s doorstep.

To this day, that mystery has not been solved.

“That gives us hope,” Schoeck said.

“They may just show up one day on the front steps, and we would be eternally grateful and thankful to God for those items to be back.”

An investigation is ongoing. Police are asking the public for help that could lead to the identification of any suspects and the potential recovery of the stolen items.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the major crimes unit or Crime Stoppers.

- With files from CTV’s Danton Unger