When the Rev. James Mann first learned that the wiring surrounding the Georgia Power meter at his church had been severely damaged, he had a pretty good idea of the culprit’s motive.
Eight years earlier, he faced a similar situation when someone destroyed the air conditioning unit at his Hazel Street church. In both instances, he believes thieves came to Congregational Baptist for one thing: copper.
To a utility company, copper is the essential metal component that delivers power. To a thief, however, the thick wiring in the power box and the cooling tubes inside an air conditioner just mean fast cash. And churches are often easy targets.
Though the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office was unable to say what percentage of overall copper theft cases occur at houses of worship, or how that number has changed over the years, its property crime division is currently investigating 15 copper theft cases at churches.
For Congregational Baptist Church, the repercussions of this month’s damage were immediate. Without the ability to turn on the lights or cool the building, the small flock was forced to cancel its bimonthly Sunday service. Repair estimates are as high as $4,000, Mann said, a significant fundraising ask for his congregation of only a few dozen members.
“It’s very difficult for us to sustain a blow like that immediately and get it done,” Mann said. “We’re trying to figure out what we can do next to get things taken care of.”
Around the corner at Magnolia Baptist Church, thieves struck this summer. Pastor Vernon King, who leads a congregation of around 60 members said he did a double take when he drove to the church in July. There, he saw an unfamiliar van sitting on top of and crushing the church’s main air conditioning unit.
“They were using the van to knock the air conditioner loose off its foundation, and they ended up getting stuck,” said King. “They just abandoned the van altogether, and they ended up coming back and getting the entire air conditioner.”
In recent weeks, copper theft has been on the rise, affecting not just churches but Macon businesses and homes, the sheriff’s office said. In June, Sid’s sandwich shop reported its third incident of stolen copper over a three-year period, which includes the destruction of two air conditioning units.
“Copper thefts often increase when the price of copper rises above $4 per pound,” a sheriff’s office statement from last week said. “Copper prices are ranging from approximately $4.50 to more than $5 per pound.”
Buildings that are not continuously occupied tend to be targeted in these crimes. But, during a 2023 incident at Victory Church of Macon, it was a different story.
“It just so happened that someone was having a service in the building that day, and they had the AC running,” said executive pastor Arizona Watkins. “All of a sudden, they heard it shut off.”
Two of Victory’s four air conditioning units were destroyed as people sat inside. Watkins said the same perpetrators came back the next week and destroyed the other two. The church received a $50,000 estimate to repair the four units. Some of the cost was covered by insurance, but Watkins said the church paid a significant portion out of pocket.
“It’s quite devastating, especially for small congregations like ours,” Watkins said. “We don’t have huge budgets and huge savings where we can just go into an account and replace those units.”
Following the ordeal, Victory Church installed security cameras and a 10-foot fence with barbed wire around the air conditioning unit.
Magnolia Baptist is still without a functioning main air conditioning unit months later. In the meantime, King said they’ve moved their afternoon Bible studies to a virtual format to keep members out of the building at the hottest points of the day.
Like Victory Church, Congregational Baptist installed a wired cage around its air conditioning unit after the 2018 incident. But the power meter was exposed.
For Mann, what comes next for the Congregational Baptist is up in the air. A family member of someone at the church offered to do the electrical work at a discounted price. Mann is still waiting on Georgia Power to restore electricity to the building. He hopes that they can add additional security measures, but that’s another added expense.
Most of Mann’s small, but loyal, congregation have attended the church for decades and contributed when the church was in need.
Angela Thomas serves as the church clerk and has worshiped at Congregational Baptist since she was in elementary school more than 50 years ago. She said the church’s population has dwindled in recent years, but she still regularly attends along with her brother and 91-year-old mother.
“As long as I can receive the word, that keeps me going back,” she said.
Since the meter was destroyed, Mann has received support from other local ministers, offering to host his congregation in the interim and give monetary support. He’s hopeful the church will be back on its feet soon.
“We love our little church, and we would like to see it move forward,” Mann said. “I’m hoping that it’ll weather the storm and become a lot more viable than it may be currently.”
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Macon Telegraph.
