Church’s stolen items replaced when news of theft gets out
By BP Staff
CADWELL, Ga. (BP) – A Georgia church that had thousands of dollars of tools and equipment stolen from its trailer is rejoicing after donations more than made up for the loss.
Cadwell Baptist Church youth pastor Robert Marina told local news channel WMAZ that members of the church’s youth group complete projects almost every weekend for people in the community, building and repairing wheelchair ramps, decks, stairs and more.
Marina told WMAZ the church wants to help everyone – including the person who stole the tools.
“I don’t want him to go to jail,” he said. “I wanna give him the love of Christ. I wanna show him that ‘Hey, we forgive you. Come be a part of us. … Let us meet your needs, whatever they may be.'”
Despite the theft, about 20 members of the church intended to keep their plans to travel to Dayton, Ohio, for a mission trip March 30.
In a March 25 Facebook post, deacon Brent Redfern said the estimated value of the items was $4,000. Redfern updated that post on March 29 with some good news.
“This morning by 9:15 our need had been met but that is not when the blessings stopped,” Redfern wrote. “We have been abundantly blessed by many people. Our God is an awesome God, he tells us to not lean on our own understanding but to trust him and he will makes our paths straight. We are meant to tell our story and to give God all of the glory. Just remember he owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the hills [too]. We are going to Dayton, OH fully equipped to do the work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Man charged with stealing instruments, electronics from N.C. church
By Chad Austin/Biblical Recorder
CONNELLY SPRINGS, N.C. (BP) – A Burke County man has been arrested in connection with the theft of musical instruments and electronics from First Baptist Church Icard.
Eric Harlan Queen, 28, of Connelly Springs was arrested by the Burke County Sheriff’s Office on Monday, March 18, and charged with felony breaking and/or entering to a place of worship, felony larceny after breaking and/or entering, felony possession of stolen property and misdemeanor unlawful use of game land access.
Queen received a $30,500 secured bond for the charges.
According to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a reported break-in at First Baptist Church Icard in Connelly Springs on Saturday, March 16. Pastor Micheal Pardue told deputies that someone broke into the church and stole multiple musical instruments and a variety of electronic devices from the sanctuary, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Pardue is an announced candidate for second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Detectives met with Pardue March 18 to review surveillance footage of the incident. Investigators determined that the suspect was most likely on foot, had made two separate trips to the church and changed clothes between incidents, the release said.
Trailer of 200 Bibles set ablaze outside church Easter morning
By BP Staff
MT. JULIET, Tenn. (BP) — A man set ablaze a trailer of about 200 Bibles outside a Nashville, Tenn., area church at sunrise Easter morning, according to law enforcement officers and a statement from the church pastor.
Someone dropped off a trailer of Bibles at the intersection of Old Lebanon Dirt Road and Chandler Road around 6 a.m. Sunday (March 31) and intentionally set the Bibles on fire, the Wilson County Sheriff’s Department said in a Facebook post.
Pastor Greg Locke, pastor of Global Vision Bible Church near the intersection, said church video shows a man dousing the trailer of Bibles with gasoline and torching it, WSMV-TV reported March 31.
The Mt. Juliet Fire Department extinguished the fire, the sheriff’s department said, and no arrests have been reported in the incident.
“To uphold the integrity of the ongoing investigation, other specific details cannot be provided at this time,” the sheriff’s department said in the Facebook post. No other updates were available.
