{"id":154427,"date":"2025-08-18T00:48:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T00:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/154427\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T00:48:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T00:48:09","slug":"from-theft-to-thanks-san-antonio-church-cooled-by-gifted-a-c-unit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/154427\/","title":{"rendered":"From theft to thanks: San Antonio church cooled by gifted A\/C unit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The new A\/C unit hums in harmony with the choir and church organ.<\/p>\n<p>SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Nearly two weeks after thieves stole the main air conditioning unit from a historic west-side church, a local HVAC company stepped in to bring both relief and restoration.<\/p>\n<p>St. James AME Church, a longtime staple in the San Antonio community, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kens5.com\/article\/news\/crime\/san-antonio-texas-st-james-ame-church-west-side\/273-b2adfb47-7c26-4b78-8038-e99c203fcb0c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">had its 5-ton air conditioning unit stolen overnight on Aug. 2<\/a>. With replacement costs well beyond their means, the congregation feared they&#8217;d be left to sweat through the final stretch of summer.<\/p>\n<p>But after KENS 5 aired the story, viewers responded with compassion and action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople were surprised and were like, \u2018Oh no, they did this to a church?\u2019\u201d said Pastor Cynthia Ladson of St. James AME Church. \u201cFrom there, the conversation went, \u2018Well, I\u2019ve got a 5-ton condenser,\u2019 and then somebody else said, \u2018I can install it!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pastor Ladson said the outpouring support began in the Facebook comments under the original report. Within days, the church received 15 calls from people offering help.<\/p>\n<p>Among them: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/aboveallair4u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Above All Air<\/a>, a local, family-owned HVAC company. Co-owner Lauren Gutierrez and her husband John Thunert, who&#8217;s the owner, said a friend sent them the news story, and their decision to step in was instant.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re a company that likes to serve the community,\u201d Lauren Gutierrez said. \u201cWhen someone is accepting and willing to accept a gift like that \u2013 it gives us a warm feeling as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With help from their supplier, Reese HVAC in San Antonio, Above All Air donated and installed a brand-new A\/C unit just three days ago \u2014 a blessing that now hums in harmony with the choir and organ.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHaving people have that conversation and willing to help, that was just great,\u201d Ladson said.<\/p>\n<p>Gutierrez added that their faith is at the core of their company\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a verse that sticks out to me, Isaiah 6:8,\u201d she said. \u201c\u2018God asks, &#8216;who shall I send?&#8217; And the response is, &#8216;send me.\u2019 That\u2019s the kind of company we are. We just want to step in and help when we\u2019re needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>San Antonio police continue to investigate the theft. But for now, the church is filled with gratitude \u2014 and, once again, cool air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new A\/C unit hums in harmony with the choir and church organ. SAN ANTONIO \u2014 Nearly two&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":154428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-154427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-san-antonio","10":"tag-sanantonio","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115047020144283882","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/154428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}