Prayers Answered: Memphis Church Recovers Stolen Organ Pipes

The prayers of a Tennessee church were answered when whoever stole a moving truck near its building didn’t keep what they found inside: old organ pipes, and lots of them.

Calvary Episcopal Church in downtown Memphis had loaded a Penske truck earlier this month with nearly 2,000 organ pipes for transport to Spencer Organ Company in Boston, where they were to undergo restoration. But the truck was stolen after being loaded.

A few days later police found the truck and many of the nearly 90-year-old pipes, but they recovered even more over the weekend, the church told news outlets. The latest recovery came after police got a CrimeStoppers tip on Sunday that led officers to a van that was parked near where they found the truck, the church said.

The Memphis Police Department has impounded the van.

The organ pipes will be sent for restoration, Calvary Episcopal Church Rector Scott Walters said.