Members of St. Stephen's Baptist Church off Carmichael Road were outraged yesterday after meeting their place of worship ransacked.

Police arrested a man in connection with the break-in, which reportedly occurred on Thursday around 2 a.m., after he was discovered attempting to break into a second church off Carmichael Road.

According to police, the 26-year-old suspect of Lazaretto Road was arrested outside Southside Christian Ministries International Church, adjacent to St. Stephen's.

Police said the suspect was wanted in connection with two other crimes.

Several members of St. Stephen's were busy cleaning up the broken glass scattered across the church's floor.
"As a mother, I feel awful because I wouldn't want to know I have a child that would do something to disrespect the house of God like I saw here," Elder Doreen Campbell said outside the church.

"I had gotten a call from my son, who has a friend that lives down the road from us. He called and said 'call the pastor because something is going on and I saw police outside the church'.

"When I came to the church it was still more than I expected to see because with the type of doors that we have, they must have gone through a whole lot of trouble to smash it."

The shattered glass of a hurricane impact door at the western entrance was on the floor.
Inside the church, chairs, offering envelopes, steel cabinets and other decorations were scattered about.

A large rock rest just beneath a shattered window pane. A wooden door leading to the church's pantry was broken off its hinges.

Several flag poles and the church's pulpit were severely damaged.

Deacon Nathalee Dorsett, a long-standing church member, described the scene as a "disaster".
"We weren't really prepared for it, you know," she said. "They broke the doors and all the vases, and they had the food packed up and ready to go off with it.

"Like I said, it was a disaster. We don't know why anyone would have done this."

Pastor Roslyn Astwood said she was shocked that someone has such little respect for the house of God.

Astwood said the set of hurricane impact doors cost $4,000 alone. The total damage will cost the church between $6,000 and $8,000, she estimated.

Astwood said it was a major setback. This was the second time the church, which was built in 2009, has been broken into.

According to Astwood, this time around was much worse.

"We recognize how important it is for us as a church to really continue to pray and work with our people because many of our young people seem to be losing it," she said.

Despite the incident, Astwood said the church will continue to welcome the poor to receive clothing and food, although she said she now fears that some people may have ulterior motives.

"It doesn't leave you with a good feeling and it could cause you to become angry, but as people of God we have to understand that we have to love the unlovable," she said.

"This is one of things that could push you to the place where you become so annoyed and bitter with what's going on that you could just become indifferent and insensitive to the needs of people.

"But we cannot allow this to take our joy and put us in a place where we can no longer help people.
Astwood said some of the church's 100 members will spend the weekend cleaning up the mess left behind by the culprit in preparation for Sunday's service.
It was unclear whether there was any damage done at the second church.

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