Guitars Stolen From Grace Tabernacle Church
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Letter by letter, an associate pastor spelled out a message on the marquee in front of Grace Tabernacle Church in south Fort Worth Thursday.
"To those who broke into our building," the first part of the message on the sign read.
Grace Tabernacle has a very large building that houses three very small congregations. Late Sunday or early Monday someone broke in and stole from all three congregations.
"We have a Korean church and a Spanish-speaking church," Pastor Chris Branigan who leads the English speaking congregation said. "They both meet in here on Sunday afternoons."
Someone broke into the small room where those two congregations meet in the church gymnasium.
"We think they forced entry through the glass doors in the back," Rev. Branigan said. "We think that's where they entered."
The burglar jimmied the locks with a knife left at the scene. They stole two bass guitars and two projectors from from the Korean and Spanish speaking congregations.
"Both of these congregations are meeting here right now are very small because of how new they are," Rev. Branigan said. "So, they don't have the money to replace them at the moment."
The congregation also thinks the burglars stole from a storage room where the English speaking congregation keeps lot of gym gear for a free summer day care program, a program that is very important to people like Sharon Harris who has a granddaughter and two great nephews who attend.
"It's a hurting feeling because Its all done out of love at this church," Harris said. "It's done out of love for the children and their safety."
The congregations can't understand why they were the target of the crime. But they do know its a chance to spell out on their marquee what they believe in, no matter the language. The finished message on the sign reads:
"To those who broke into our building: We forgive you."
They promise forgiveness for the thief, whether the stolen goods are returned or not.
"You know what? I think I'd prefer that they've already pawned it," Rev. Branigan said. "Then we can truly show that we forgive them without receiving any benefit."
(©2014 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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