Theft hurts church outreach

BOTHELL – Thieves stole more than an espresso machine when they broke into a coffee stand ran by Park Ridge Community Church last week.

For nearly five years, church volunteers have handed out free lattes and mochas from a stand in the church parking lot. The stand gives them a chance to “touch people in the community,” associate pastor Brad Sebranke said.

Sebranke and other baristas chat with customers, offering words of encouragement and teachings from the Bible in the few minutes it takes to whip up a mocha. The volunteers have prayed with customers who come to them with their worries.

“There are people who won’t step through the door of a church, but they will stop for coffee,” Sebranke said. “We build relationships and we try to offer hope.”

The outreach program ran out of steam last week when Sebranke discovered that someone had broken into the stand and stolen the espresso machine.

The thief pried open a window after failing to break open the door sometime between March 4 and March 5. The stand doesn’t keep any money inside so it’s likely the thief took the next best thing – the $2,500 espresso machine.

“It’s not a Cadillac, but it had the horsepower to keep up with what we make,” Sebranke said.

A Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy took a report on the burglary, but it doesn’t appear that any suspects have been identified, sheriff’s deputy Rich Niebusch said.

Between 90 and 120 coffee drinkers stop by the stand each day. Some offer $1 or $2 donation and others take the coffee for free. The church picks up any costs not covered through donations, Sebranke said.

This is not the first time the church has had to shut down the stand. About a year after it opened, a fire destroyed a small, three-sided building used to house an espresso cart.

It’s unclear how long the stand will be closed. Sebranke is searching for another espresso machine. He’s already been offered a used one, but it doesn’t look like it will work, he said.

Sebranke doesn’t believe the stand was targeted because of its affiliation with the church. He’s convinced that good has already come out the theft.

“I know even in spite of the loss, God is making beauty out of the ashes,” Sebranke said.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.

Deputies seek information

Anyone with information about a burglary March 4 or March 5 at an espresso stand at Park Ridge Community Church, 3805 Maltby Road, is asked to call the sheriff’s tip line at 425-388-3845.

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