TriWorship Covenant Church is down but not out.

When head pastor David Johnson and his worship staff arrived at the church’s storage trailer at 8:15 a.m. on Oct. 23 to retrieve their audio visual equipment for service that morning, they were shocked at what they found.

The lock on the trailer appeared to be cut clean off. When Johnson opened the storage doors, all of the equipment was gone. The church Johnson worked so hard to build is now tasked with working with his insurance company to recover the $9,300-worth of equipment that disappeared, in addition to conducting worship each Sunday.

“We were very disappointed,” Johnson said. “Here we were, on schedule for service that morning, and there it was. Both locks broken off, it looked like someone had a metal cutter and cut the locks off. All of our equipment was stolen. It’s made it very difficult to have our normal worship.”

Johnson said items such as speakers, monitors, mixing board, computer, iPad and projector were gone.

With the loss of equipment, the church, which is held at Saghalie Middle School, has found it difficult to conduct impactful services to the community.

The misfortune of TriWorship’s experience didn’t appear to be an isolated incident. Johnson received news that churches in Mill Creek and Enumclaw also had equipment go missing in the weeks following his experience.

“At that point we really just wanted to get the word out about what’s going on,” Johnson said. “We’ve started to get the news out there, and the community has really responded.”

The first thing Johnson and the church set up was a GoFundMe account (https://www.gofundme.com/triworship-church-recovery-fund). The page has raised $425 of its $8,000 goal.

The next piece of advice Johnson was given was to work with his insurance company to recover the equipment lost.

There was just one problem. According to the insurance company, TriWorship Covenant Church wasn’t covered for the losses.

Johnson said he calmly sat down and poured through his policy with a fine-toothed comb. When he was sure he found evidence he needed proving the church was covered, he went right back to the insurance company.

But Johnson was denied for a second time.

Johnson said the insurance company is working with him to help, but he said it’s an uphill battle to this point.

“It looks like we may have some minor coverage, but it’s still in the process,” he said. “They have to assess what is and what isn’t going to be insured if anything at all. It’s a little relief, but we’re still waiting.”

Johnson said it was devastating learning on two different occasions that the loss would not be covered, but he said he has peace of mind knowing he will be able to make some kind of recovery thanks to the insurance company.

Johnson said he is confident the insurance will be able to get all of his church equipment back to him somehow.

He said even in a worse case scenario of not receiving anything from the insurance company, TriWorship Covenant Church will push forward every Sunday.

“We are going to continue to do what we have been called to do,” Johnson said. “And that’s to live on with purpose. Serving the community, bringing people together.”

Despite the recent setback, Johnson said his church, which is only in its second year, is primed for a surge in momentum.

He said he created the church with the vision that it helps reconcile the community through its service.

Johnson said he believes the person or person’s who stole the equipment is or has been associated with the church and is familiar with the church set up process since it’s done at the same time every Sunday morning.

He said the situation is ironic if his theory is correct. He believes in reconciliation whole-heatedly, which is exactly what this person or persons needs.

“I would tell them to bring back our stuff,” Johnson said. “But then I would go on to tell them they are forgiven. You are loved. Please bring back our stuff, but you are loved and you are forgiven.”

Johnson said though the church is down equipment and though worship may not be as powerful as it normally is, the event in October has only made the TriWorship Covenant Church’s mission resonate even louder.

“We believe in community. We believe in the mission, to reconcile community, to serve people, and to be a place where people are respected and protected.”