BETHALTO - Zion Lutheran Church Senior Pastor Mark Hofferber issued a statement today on the ongoing investigation about unauthorized video cameras at the church on Christmas Eve.

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While not able to release an abundance of information because of the investigation, he was able to provide an official church statement and a few additional comments.

At 11 p.m. on Dec. 24, Bethalto Police responded to Zion Lutheran Church, located at 625 Church Drive about the complaint of unauthorized video cameras being used. Bethalto Police said in a previous statement that multiple searches were conducted at Zion Lutheran Church and Zion Lutheran School.

An adult male member of Zion Lutheran Church was taken into custody on Dec. 24, 2015, as the subject of this investigation. He was later released pending charges.

Senior Pastor Hofferber sent out an official statement on behalf of the church via e-mail:

“The investigation is ongoing. The press release from the Police Department contains the facts that we are aware of at this time. We have nothing to add to those facts at this time. As we continue to deal with this very serious event, we ask for the community’s ongoing prayers for our congregation.”

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In an interview with Hofferber, he said the person involved in the investigation is “not a staff person or teacher.”

“The cameras were in our church but I can’t tell the locations because of the investigation,” said Hofferber. “I can say there were no pre-school children involved in any inappropriate taping.”

The senior pastor says this situation has been most difficult for Zion Lutheran in Bethalto.

“It has been a terrible situation for our church,” he said.

“We have released statements to the school and congregation members and when charges are formerly filed, we will have a public meeting in Bethalto with the Bethalto Police and Madison County State’s Attorney’s office there to answer questions we can’t answer.”

If charges are filed in the case, RiverBender.com will immediately release that information and details on the public meeting that will occur about the church issue.

Hofferber added that churches possess sinful people and this is “sinful behavior.”

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