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Pastor charged for Bible theft
21/10/2006 08:37 - (SA)
Allentown, Pennsylvania - An American Protestant minister and his wife have been charged with the theft of an antique set of leather-bound Bibles from their former church and selling them on eBay.
Rev William Shrout Jr, 30, and Carla Shrout, 33, were charged with theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy in connection with the theft of about 30 books from the First United Church of Christ in Royersford, Montgomery County.
Shrout served as pastor at the church from June 2003 until July 2005.
"When something like this happens to a church, it does feel like a betrayal and a sacred trust broken," said Rev Daniel Hinkle, interim pastor of First UCC on Friday.
"But I am confident the church is handling this well and appropriately, that we are moving ahead and healing."
Hinkle said Shrout would undergo a church review of his pastoral fitness.
A woman who answered the phone at Trinity United Church of Christ in Mount Bethel, Northampton County, where Shrout now serves as interim pastor, refused to comment on Friday and hung up.
Royersford police chief Kevin Schurr said officers were valuing the circa-1920s Bibles and the small cedar chest in which they were stored. The chest was also stolen.
Hinkle said congregation members had known the cedar chest and individually bound books of the Bible were missing.
One church member later saw them for sale on eBay and notified church officials.
The officials then logged onto the internet auction site and submitted a winning bid of about $115 (about R800), said police.
The Shrouts face a preliminary hearing in November.
- AP
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