Community council sets up fund to help Universal Christian Ministries after weekend burglary
The St. Anthony Park Community Council has set up a GoFundMe page to help a neighborhood church replace a number of musical instruments, sound equipment and thousands of dollars in cash that were stolen from the church during a burglary last weekend.
Police say the burglary happened at Universal Christian Ministries, 997 Raymond Ave., between 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, and 7 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 31.
Cash that the church had planned to donate to a mission in Sierra Leone was taken from a locked collection box along with three keyboards, two guitars, speakers, microphones and a mixer board. The church has estimated that the value of the instruments and cash amounted to $20,000.
If you would like to help support the church in recuperating some of its loss, go to www.gofundme.com/sapchurchbreakin.
I am deeply sorry about the robbery at Universal Christian Ministries, and I want to help. However, I am worried about a precedent here. When I was the senior pastor at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Curch in north St. Anthony Park, we suffered three expensive robberies over a few months that forced us to lock our outside doors. We did not ask for the community’s help. We had insurance, and we enhanced our security significantly. I want to know that Universal Christian Ministries is obtaining insurance and enhancing their building’s security with the donation I make, as well as replacing the stolen items.