Turtle Creek Church Vandalized; Previously Vandalized Church Offers Assistance

TURTLE CREEK (KDKA) -- For the second time in the past two months, vandals struck a church in Turtle Creek.

It's shut the churches down, and it's costing them thousands and thousands of dollars.

The vandals hit the Calvary United Church sometime late Sunday or early Monday. They didn't touch the sanctuary, but they stripped all the copper piping and caused a lot of damage.

As a result, the church is closed down and many of the services they offered the community are shut down, too.

The Calvary United Church has a small congregation with a big mission. Their opportunity shop provides clothes and household goods for people in need, including the Aspinwall VA.

"We serve fire victims. All the fire companies have our information," church secretary Beth Hughes said. "Abused women. Anyone that's in need."

But all that has ceased now that vandals destroyed the plumbing and furnace.

The church can't open to the public.

"They stripped every piece of copper they could strip from our boiler," Hughes said.

Copper's stripped. Walls are trashed. Doors are damaged. Offices ransacked. Thousands of dollars in damage. They are trying to raise the money to fix it while turning the other cheek.

"We don't worship a vengeful God," Hughes said. "We worship a forgiving God."

Last month, the same thing happened down the street at the Love Fellowship Church. Thousands in damage as vandals stole the copper pipes. And when they heard about the Calvary Church this week, the Love Fellowship Church practiced what they preach.

"We want to make a donation to you. We want to help you get back up on your feet," Bishop David Brock of the Love Fellowship Church said.

For two vandalized and disrupted churches in Turtle Creek, God is forgiving.

"We want them to get caught. Not from a standpoint to be prosecuted, but a standpoint to be helped," Brock said.

Police have surveillance video and are hoping to identify the church vandals.

In the meantime, the Calvary Church is holding services at a nearby funeral home, and they have a GoFundMe page to help pay for the damages.

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