Houston-area pastor says nearly $20,000 worth of church equipment stolen from storage trailer
HOUSTON - A local church is starting over from scratch after its pastor says nearly $20,000 worth of belongings were stolen from a storage facility. The church is now asking the community to help them get back on their feet before the holidays.
"We pulled up about 6 this morning into the yard to hook the trailer up, the way we usually do. But it was gone. I was kind of looking around for it thinking it was somewhere else, but I saw the busted box, and I realized it was gone," said Pastor Justin Gingrich.
Pastor Gingrich was nearly brought to tears when he realized his church’s trailer, and all of his hard work over the last two years, were gone.
In its place Sunday morning, he discovered three broken locks and a busted boot at the Life Storage facility on East T.C. Jester Boulevard in the Heights.
"I cried a lot this morning. It’s hard to roll up on that, hard to roll up with your 4-year-old daughter who also loves the church," Gingrich said.
Pastor Gingrich started Restore Houston Church during the COVID pandemic in 2021. The church now has about 60 members, including 20 kids, some as young as 6-months-old.
"We actually lease from the YMCA on West 34th Street. Part of what that meant for us is that we don't have a permanent building, so we keep everything that our church uses here on Sunday morning; from our speakers, our soundboards, our cameras for live streaming, all of our audio equipment, and all of our children’s ministry equipment," Gingrich said.
"We bring in all of our supplies. We bring in all of our curriculum. We bring in all of our safety measures for checking in and checking out kids, that is our number one priority. So when that is all taken from you, it’s a punch to the gut," said Lindsey Leeper, Family & Care Pastor at Restore Houston Church.
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According to Gingrich, the trailer's been parked at the storage facility for nearly two years.
"We had it broken into once prior. But the way that I park it, I park it so that you can’t break into the back door, and we chained up the side door so you can’t get in," Gingrich explained.
In total, Gingrich estimates a nearly $20,000 loss in stolen equipment. He filed a report with Houston police and is now canvassing the area for surveillance video.
However, since no other trailers nearby were damaged or broken into, he worries the church may have been targeted.
"The trailer itself was covered, and my insurance will cover mostly everything that was $1,000 or up. The challenge with that is, that a lot of electronic equipment actually isn’t $1,000," Gingrich said.
To help the Restore Houston Church, click here.