Oak Grove Baptist Church has been undergoing a remodel, but experienced a major setback when thieves stole the volunteers’ tools an supplies.
Dallas police are looking for the criminals who broke into a far southeast Dallas church.
Pastor Rudy Owens, of Oak Grove Baptist Church, said his church has been in Dallas for more than 50 years.
With the expanding community, he wanted a way to bring more people into his congregation.
His solution was to re-model the sanctuary.
“The sanctuary was built in 1958 and has not had anything done to it,” Owens explained.
The church, which has a membership of just about 30 people, doesn’t have much money. So Owens hired five members to do the work for nearly zero cost.
But this past weekend, crooks broke in and stole all of their equipment, tools and speakers, totaling thousands of dollars.
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It’s money that will be difficult for the church to replace.
“It’s kind of an empty gut feeling. You don’t expect it,” said Owens.
“To have something like that happen to you, it kind of knocks the wind out of you.”
Richard Timm is one of the members working on the church.
“The tools you can get them back one way or another. But someone stealing from God, that just don’t sit well with me. I couldn’t believe it,” he said.
Owens said since the church is so strapped for cash, he’s asking for the thieves to return what they stole.
“Just come up here and bring the tools back and the speaker back. We will certainly appreciate it with no questions asked,” he said.
“You really need to think hard when it comes to God what you’re doing. Stealing is not on the list,” added Timm.
