Stained-glass windows restored at Christ Church by the Sea, nearly six months after vandalism

In a show of faith and hope, the stained-glass windows that adorn Christ Church by the Sea have been rededicated and replaced nearly six months after their initial destruction sent glass scattering across the church’s interior.

On Sunday, Rev. Paul Capetz, a senior pastor at the church, said the church decided to take a brief departure from normal services to welcome a crowd of about 50 people. Not all of them were members of the congregation, but all of them were members of the Newport Beach community.

Capetz saw faces from the City Council, residents who donated to the restoration work, and some of the original windows’ donors or their children.

“It was an extremely beautiful service. We rededicated the windows and we rededicated the sanctuary, and I went around and explained the symbolism of each of the windows that had been broken. They’re not just works of art, but they’re religious symbols,” said Capetz. “I was deeply moved. I think everyone was deeply moved. That was what everyone told me, at least.”

Replacement of the windows cost close to $60,000.

All but two windows on the street-facing side of the church were destroyed in April. Rev. Paul Capetz described the windows as brighter and vibrant.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

On April 15, Newport Beach police arrested San Dimas resident Nicolas Alexandro Briones on suspicion of felony vandalism after reports came in from a neighbor at around 2:45 a.m. of a possible incident in the 1400 block of Balboa Boulevard. Briones was charged with vandalism of religious property and vandalism resulting in $400 or more. He pleaded not guilty to both charges.

A crew of about 12 volunteers cleaned up the shattered glass and boarded up windows the April morning after the vandalism took place.

(Courtesy of Pastor Paul Capetz)

Court records do not indicate when he is next scheduled to appear in court, but there have been hearings on whether or not Briones is mentally fit to stand trial. Records also indicate he was recently charged with assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm for an incident in April.

Of Briones, Capetz said, “We do not seek vengeance on the man who destroyed our windows. He is severely mentally ill and the district attorney explained to me … all we want for him is healing. Healing — so he can get his life on the right path again, and so, we’re hoping that we might at some point be able to meet and talk with him and his family and see what we might do for him and them.

“I don’t want to make him out to be evil.”

All the stained-glass windows that were replaced now have a protective plastic covering to prevent them from being shattered.

(Don Leach / Staff Photographer)

Capetz said the replacement of the windows is a means to close the chapter on the incident and marks a return to “business as usual.” He said he felt the replacement was a sign that the congregation and community at large believed in the church’s future in a time where he knows fewer and fewer people are showing up to services, support churches financially or are turned off by Christianity — all for good reasons in many cases, he said.

“But we’re trying to buck these trends,” he said.

Capetz said insurance covered about $30,000 of the cost and the other half had to be raised. A GoFundMe effort brought in some donations, and the rest came from private donors both locally and from afar. Capetz said the church was receiving checks from people because of the story’s reach, and he received a $500 donation from a man who wanted to make up for having broken an unrelated window in college.

Cole Jongeward, 10, right, donates $25 of his own money to Pastor Paul Capetz on April 17, after hearing about damage to the windows at Christ Church by the Sea.

(File Photo)

One of the kids at nearby Newport Elementary School, who used to go to preschool at the church, donated everything he had accumulated in his piggy bank.

“People were just spontaneously good to us. The vandalism itself demoralized us deeply, and it kind of reminded us how bad people could be, but the generosity of so many donors, especially people who are not connected with our church, encouraged us once again to have faith in at least some people,” Capetz said.