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Two Kansas City churches are dealing with the aftermath of criminal incidents that struck less than 3 miles apart within the same week.
At St. Stephen Baptist Church, you can still smell the evidence of a fire that broke out Tuesday.
For Charmaine Cotton, a musician at the church, the damage was also emotional.
"Thankfully, with the mercy of God, it was just this room. We still have the rest of our church building where we can still do our services," Cotton said.
Cotton said the congregation is focused on moving forward.
"We keep worshiping God. We keep giving God glory. We keep coming. We keep giving," Cotton said.
"We walk by faith and not by sight. We can't see what the end's gonna be, but we believe God is directing us and pushing us," Cotton added.
Latonya Barber, pastor of children and youth at St. Stephen Baptist Church, described the experience in a single word.
"Surreal," Barber said. "You're always going to have some obstacles."
The Kansas City, Missouri, Fire Department responded to the fire around 1:51 a.m. Tuesday. According to KCFD, crews took about an hour to clear it and no injuries were reported.
Less than 3 miles away, St. John's Anglican Church faced a different kind of loss.
Thieves were targeting brass and electronics, according to Dorri Partain, the church's historian archivist.
Partain said the thieves took one of the church's AC units, but the greatest concern is the religious items used during services.
Many of the stolen items, including a processional cross and an offering plate, date back generations. Some photos in the church archive are dated as far back as 1914.
"These were the same things that people in the church have been handling for 100 years," Partain said.
Partain said the items are tied to the church's earliest days, and she described the toll on the congregation.
"It's just devastating. Everyone's heartbroken," Partain said. "Who could do this to a church?"
For Partain, the loss feels deeply personal.
"It's kind of like they broke into your house and they took stuff," Partain said. "I don't care about the stuff that we can buy at the hardware store, but the religious stuff, that hits deep," Partain said.
The church is hoping to recover what was taken. They are offering a $2,000 reward for the return of the religious items, no questions asked.
The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department said the incidents remain under investigation.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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