The pandemic forced many local churches to close their doors to congregational gatherings for worship services and seek more virtual methods of praising God away from the buildings.
And for those places of worship that did not close their doors completely, it did limit the amount of activity at the churches, which has seemingly provided an opportunity for Ne'er-do-wells to prey upon the houses of worship.
The rush to get into some local churches has unfortunately not been for the purpose of worshiping. The city of Indianola has experienced a rash of burglaries that have targeted the area’s religious facilities and according to Interim Police Chief Earnest Gilson, no one has yet been arrested for these crimes.
Although the criminals are clearly searching for something, it doesn’t appear to be spiritual enlightenment; in the more recent break-ins the damage to the structures is apparently the greatest loss.
On April 28 at around 3:32 p.m., Pastor Jim Woods of the Dorsett Baptist Church reported a second break-in that again damaged an expensive stained glass window, this time on the east side of the sanctuary.
The estimated replacement value is $2,903, something that Pastor Woods is familiar with since the church was also broken in to on October 22, 2020 and the custom-made window on the west side of the church had to be replaced.
Nothing was reportedly taken in either burglary. Woods said that was because nothing was in the church worth stealing, so he can't understand why thieves would come back a second time.
Another religious facility that has experienced its share of break-ins is the Mount Beulah Baptist Church on Church Avenue. The church suffered a loss of $200 cash after first being burgled on March 19, 2020. It was again hit October 13, 2020, and had two moneyboxes taken with an undisclosed amount of cash, the church was again hit on April 26 and again on May 13 of this year.
In the April 2021 break-in, several cases of water were reported as stolen and it appears that the thief’s thirst wasn’t quenched because again water, an assortment of clothing and a WMX 20 Duo radio were also reported stolen in the May break-in.
The Rasberry United Methodist Church on the corner of Hannah Avenue and Roosevelt Street also fell victim to multiple break-ins in this rash of religious raids. It was first broken into in early April 2020. Then again in October 2020 when damage was reported throughout the building and $100 cash and about $80 in cleaning supplies were taken.
The latest burglary was on April 17 when the culprit(s) damaged a back window and the alarm box. At that time, the inventory of stolen items was still pending.
On May 12, the Temple of Deliverance Church on Fourth Avenue was broken into. Officers on patrol passed by and noticed that the front door was wide open, but nothing was listed as stolen.
The Pleasant Green Baptist Church on Garrard Avenue experienced break-ins through windows on both the south side and north side of the building on May 12 and November 6, 2020 respectively. Although nothing was seemingly missing the structure did suffer damage to a side door and an interior door.
Other churches that have also suffered a loss due to disrespectful desecrators was the Big Morning Star Baptist Church on the corner of Hannah Avenue and Chandler Street. Those criminals took some aluminum pans and a water cooler.
Back in June of 2020 the Trinity Church on Roosevelt Street was burglarized and the suspect(s) apparently entered through a glass window and possibly received some cuts because blood swabs were also apparently done at the time.
Church leaders are cautioned to be on the lookout for suspicious activity and check on their facilities regularly, especially if normal activity has not been restored. It is also a good idea to invest in security alarms and cameras, if possible.
