Pittsburg church ransacked; Equipment stolen, photos taken from the walls

PITTSBURG (CBS SF) --  St. James Cathedral of Faith was ransacked and robbed over the weekend, leaving the congregation with no equipment to have church services.  

Pastor Maria Gardner-Langston told KPIX the criminals stole TVs, the sound system, mics, speakers, two drum sets and took the pictures off the wall.  

"Just a bad hurt, to know that people come and break-in the church and take so much and they ransacked my office," said Pastor Gardner-Langston. 

It's still unclear how the criminals got in, but they got away with well over $20,000 worth of equipment and items.  

 "It's very hurtful to know that somebody would decimate and totally ransack a place of refuge," said youth pastor David Diouf.  

Diouf told KPIX he was still processing it. It wasn't long ago when the church was broken into before, but not much was taken. Back in November, work was being done on building a new building when a fire broke out, damaging parts of the current building.  

Not even a month later, church members still gave thousands of toys to kids in the community. Diouf the criminals even ransacked drawers taking gifts and gift cards that were stored from their Christmas toy drive. 

They've been having services outside until some minor fire repairs are finished. They were set to have services back inside next month, now that's still up in the air.  

"Someone can get blessed still," Diouf said. "We want to be a beacon to the community and as positive as we are in the community,  it just sucks that somebody would try to come and steal our light."  

Church leaders said the crooks disconnected the alarm system and snatched the cameras from the walls. 

"In the Word of God, He didn't promise me that it wasn't going to be trouble. He didn't, but he did promise me that He'd be there when the trouble comes," said Pastor Gardner Langston.   

She says they will continue being a community-driven church.  She will have to hire 24-hour security just to make sure the church stays secure.  

"I would tell them, you know I love you. I don't know what your reasons were, but whatever you needed, the church would've helped you," Pastor Gardner-Langston said.