Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Church ready to worship again
Donations pour in after musical equipment stolen
PEMBROKE PINES — Donations are pouring in at the small strip-mall church in Pembroke Pines where thieves stole about $10,000 in musical equipment overnight on Independence Day.
And because of the outpouring, the church likely won’t skip a beat come Sunday service.
“We are so thankful. The community has opened up its heart and because of that we will have our music again,” said Pastor Earl Richards, the leader of the Miracles Through Prayer & Faith Ministries at 6772 Pembroke Road. The church has about 100 members.
Just before noon Friday, a longtime friend of the pastor dropped off a keyboard, and then a woman drove her pickup truck to the front of the church, the vehicle’s bed filled with audio-visual equipment. More donated equipment came, and within 90 minutes, there was enough to start connecting the wires and cords in the corner of the church that had been stripped bare.
On a morning when barbecue and fireworks was on the mind of most people, Richards was beckoned to his church by Pines Police.
“My goodness, glass was shattered all over the place, I felt it in my heart and I was kinda sad, very very sad,” said Richards, who also serves as chaplain for the Miramar FireRescue Department and the Miramar Police.
“I thought I was going to pass out. The police officer held me, grabbed me and just embraced me,” he said.
Every piece of equipment, except for a drum set and the speakers suspended from the ceiling, was taken, including a 72-key keyboard, a bass guitar, three amplifiers, a CD deck, microphones and a mixer.
The thief or thieves left one thing behind — a large rock. Richards said he plans to keep that rock. He placed it on the steps leading up to the pulpit. And he has a message for whoever threw it through the front door.
“If you’re watching or reading, I’m asking you, please confess your sins … you’re stealing from God, man. Hey, that’s bad.”
He invited the culprit or culprits to his modest church.
“Bring back the stuff, come to the sanctuary, just tell us you’re sorry about that and we will forgive you, we will love you.”
Member Tecora Noble stopped by the church Friday to check in on Richards.
“To think someone stole from a church, unbelievable,” she said. “But it looks like we are being blessed,” she added, looking over the donated equipment stacked on the floor nearby.
Ingrid Fenderson, the information and technology manager of the Feeding South Florida food bank in Hallandale, asked her boss if she could donate some of that organization’s audio-visual equipment to the church. She got the OK, borrowed her husband’s truck to load up 27 pieces of equipment, and delivered it Friday afternoon.
“It’s horrible that someone stole from a church,” she said. “There’s no fear of anything anymore.”
The church had surveillance cameras but the thieves tore them from the walls. Richards said a next-door business has agreed to provide its surveillance video to authorities.
Pembroke Pines Police ask anyone with information on the crime to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).