Members and clergy of an Abbotsford church are concerned about the disappearance of a treasured antique Bible.
The Bible went missing either last Saturday or Sunday from Bethel Reformed Church, located at 3260 Gladwin Rd.
Pastor Ron Opmeer said the large leather-bound Dutch Bible is believed to be from the Netherlands from the early to mid 1800s.
Because the Netherlands Reformed Church was the “state” church at that time, these Bibles were published for the denomination in the old Dutch language.
The one in question was donated to Bethel Reformed Church to use and display.
The Seventh Day Adventist church rents the building on Saturdays for its worship service and lunch.
During that period on Feb. 22, the Bible was still on the stage of the church at 12:38 p.m., when a photo of a guest speaker was taken and posted on Facebook, showing the Bible in the background.
The church’s alarm was armed at about 4 p.m. that day.
The Bible was noticed to be missing at 10 a.m. on Sunday before that day’s worship service, and it had been replaced with a Bible from one of the pews.
Opmeer said it is suspected that the treasure was taken either when the Seventh Day Adventist Church members went downstairs for lunch on Saturday or when the janitor opened the building on Sunday morning.
Opmeer said he notified the Abbotsford Police about the theft, but was told they do not investigate such incidents.
He is now appealing for the public’s help in trying to track down the missing Bible. Anyone with information is asked to call him at 604-855-9377.
