On September 18, 2004, the flood waters from Crooked Creek completely surrounded the church with the high level reaching over four feet above the parking lot entranceway. The basement was completely flooded, and the water in the sanctuary rose to the seat level of the back pew. The alter area and the narthex/vestibule were both covered with water for about a foot.

Earlier in the day some of the members moved the tables from the basement to the narthex as a precaution against basement water. In the evening, as the water started to rise more rapidly, other members met there and started to move the basement contents - kitchen items, small appliances, chairs, TV and children’s Sunday School supplies, etc. - to the upstair area. We lost all of our rugs in the sanctuary , the narthex and in the basement.

By 2:30 AM, the water was still rising rapidly and it was obvious that the basement was going to be completely flooded. Water was starting to come in through the basement windows. The parking lot was ankle-deep, and the work group - Don and Sylvia Altman, Russ and Kathy Roush, and Maury Tosi, reluctantly realized they could do no more. We left for higher ground, wading through the back yards of the three neighboring houses,hoping that the sanctuary area would be spared.

By Sunday morning, the water in Crooked Creek had receded almost to within its banks and the road was open. About 35-40 church members, neighbors and friends appeared early at the church and the cleanup began. Three 2 inch pumps were pressed into service to pump out about six feet of water in the basement. Rearick Construction also sent two trucks and helpers to haul away about 25 loads of material that could not be saved.

The lower part of the organ was submerged and we will have it checked out for electronic damage. The refrigerator was upset and discarded, the oil tanks received water through the breather pipe, two stoves were damaged, and church members are checking out the two furnaces. Most of the ceiling tile in our drop ceiling were on the basement floor.

An appeal for financial help has been made to the 138 United Church of Christ churches in the Penn West Conference. An article about the water damage to the church was in a recent edition of the Kittanning Leader-Times. Several weeks later, we had an article with Pictures in the Indiana Gazette, followed by a full-page spread of pictues and an article about the church flood and remedial work.

On the day of the start of the flood recovery work, we decided that we would have a worship service in the narthex the following Sunday. We did so, and it was a very upbeat service. Everyone at the service said we should restore it to what it was before. This church has been the center of our community for 114 years and there is a lot of tradition associated with it. With your help and prayers St. Jacob’s Church will be better than ever.

On the Sunday after the flood when we were able to enter the church for the first time and see the damage, someone asked Maury Tosi how he felt. His answer was, "I’m too old to cry, and it hurts too much to laugh."

On a recent Saturday workday , a 78 year-old man showed up with a shovel to help us remove the tile and floor underlayment in the church, which was below the ruined rugs. The first thing he did when I greeted him was to take out his checkbook and write a check for $1,000.00 to St. Jacob's. He was from Leechburg and had no connection to our church, but had heard about our plight from friends.

His comment was, "If I expect to receive any blessings from the Lord, then I have to follow Jesus's command to help others in need when I can." He is truly a "Good Samaritan," answering the biblical question, "Who is my neighbor." A pastor could write a great sermon on that.

The church did not have any flood insurance, since there had never been any major flooding since the "Great Flood of 1936" - the one that took out the South Bend Dam, It's ironic that two months before the flood, we raised our fire insurance by $50,000.

From St. Jacob's October, 2004 Newsletter - by Maury Tosi