• 39°
Hartselle Enquirer

Church ransacked

By Staff
Damage extensive, but nothing taken from New Center
J.W. Greenhill
Hartselle Enquirer
Revival services continued at New Center Baptist Church on Tuesday night, despite the fact that vandals destroyed music and video equipment and windows throughout the church the night before.
The glass double doors of the church fellowship hall were shattered and bricks and stones lay among scattered pieces of glass when church members responded to a call that something was wrong. When they arrived, they discovered almost every window at the church had at least one broken pane and several glass doors and windows inside the church were broken.
The church library was ransacked and the pastor's office vandalized.
Church members said apparently nothing was taken, but the congregation's piano was destroyed and the organ overturned. The main auditorium's videotaping equipment was also destroyed.
Church deacon Geoff Halbrooks said the vandalism was first noticed by a passerby at approximately 6 a.m. Revival services were held at the church until 9 p.m. the night before.
Halbrooks said he received a call that there might be a problem at the church on Tuesday morning.
"A passerby noticed the doors standing open and called me."
Halbrooks then called Pastor Harold Brown, fellow church member Randy Whitten and the Morgan County Sheriff's Department. All three men live in the neighborhood and reached the church quickly.
Morgan County Sheriff's department Major Mike Corley said there are no definite leads in the case, which he described as "criminal mischief," but that the department wants to question "a couple of people for information purposes."
Brown said no estimate has been made on the total value of the destruction, but said that insurance should cover the replacement costs.
"I don't believe this was aimed at the church," Brown said. "It's terrible that someone felt they had to do this, but we'll recover. We'll be stronger as a church family."
The organ proved playable and Brown said an older piano would be brought from another part of the church. Revival services led by Todd Evans would continue as scheduled.
Corley said other congregations should be aware of an increased threat of vandalism during the spring.
"We try to increase our patrols around churches and cemeteries because of decoration," he said.

At a Glance

PowerGrid Services in Hartselle evacuated for bomb threat

Morgan County

20 under 40: Trey Chowning

Falkville

20 under 40: TJ Holmes

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Spencer Bell

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Shelby Keenum

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Rachel Howard

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Mary Virgina Halbrooks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Maggie McKelvey

Decatur

20 under 40: Maegan Jones

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Lindsey Tapscott

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

‘He lets us have sex’: More details emerge on Hartselle man accused of child exploitation 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Hartselle church creates Easter-themed escape rooms 

Danville

Family tradition: State livestock show legacy spans generations

Editor's picks

Baseball for Beau: More than $8k raised for scholarship named after Hartselle child  

Falkville

20 under 40: Lela Weeks

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Kalleigh Thomas

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

20 under 40: Jaime Hatcher

Hartselle

Veteran Hartselle firefighter charged with possessing child porn

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Cerrowire expansion named finalist in Business Alabama Awards  

At a Glance

Work begins on repairing two bridges over I-65 in Morgan County in coming weeks

At a Glance

Tickets for Morgan County Sports Hall of Fame banquet available

Falkville

Morgan County volunteers celebrated at annual fire department banquet 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Man jailed for stealing car from jail after earlier release 

FRONT PAGE FEATURED

Police: Hartselle man encouraged children to have sex inside his apartment

x