“We’re not letting our emotions get the best of us,” Stull says. “Everyone’s coming together. We’re using this as an opportunity to look at our entire mission and purpose as a church. We know God will use this.”
Two former members of the church, including one who had been entrusted with a key, were arrested recently when they broke into the building for the third time in two weeks, Stull says. The burglars used a key in the first incident on October 18. “He had turned in his key, but he had made a copy,” Stull says.
The church replaced the lock, but the two men in their 20s returned within a week and pried open a door, Stull says. They were arrested at the church when a witness called police after seeing the men break a window to gain entrance.
“There wasn’t much left to take,” Stull says. The men already had stolen roughly $20,000 of office and music equipment in the first two burglaries. Almost all of the equipment was quickly sold, and Stull expects that few items will be recovered.
The men, who had not attended the church for at least a year, admitted to the burglaries and accepted an agreement with the District Attorney’s office in which they will be sentenced to two years’ probation and reimburse the church for its insurance deductible. Because they cannot afford bond, the men will remain in jail until the case can be adjudicated sometime in the next two months, Stull says.
The church was hit with another emotional blow when they learned days after the second burglary that the congregation was losing its lease at the end of November. The church had been on a month-to-month lease for the past three years.
“We had a real sweet deal,” Stull says, noting that they had paid $2,000 a month for space that normally is rented for $10,000. The church lost the lease when someone agreed to pay the much higher rent.
This Sunday will be the last at the current location, and the congregation will begin meeting at Cross Point Church, a non-Covenant congregation, for the next two months. Designer’s will explore various options for its future during the time, Stull says.
To learn more about Designer’s Covenant and its ministries, please visit the church website.
