After the flood – Determined church survives trials of finding new home

Salem UMC flooded_web

By Madelaine Jerousek-Smith, Faith and Leadership… CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa—For as long as he can remember, Dick Talbott, 89, had worshipped at a church on the corner of First Avenue and Third Street in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was baptized and married there. He witnessed countless weddings there, often held in late afternoon as the beautiful west-facing stained-glass windows bathed the sanctuary in light. Salem United Methodist Church was a sacred place to its 320 members. But after floods ravaged the century-old building in 2008, the aging congregation had to ask [...]

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Rebuilding Middleburgh: Ten months after the 500-year flood

Members of a Volunteers in Mission team from Albany/Troy/Schenectady area work on replacing a first level floor. “My special angels are Jack and this bunch that come every Monday,” said the Rev. Carol Coltrain, pastor of Huntersland UMC, of this VIM team. PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN VISCHI

By Christian Vischi, Special Contributor… One irony of the 2011 flooding of Middleburgh, N.Y., was that there was too much water to save a barn from fire. One remnant of the damage done by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee is the many shuttered businesses and residences in this community of about 1,500 in Schoharie County. And one spark of hope comes from a troop of Volunteers in Mission (VIM) who have traveled 50 to 75 miles each way every Monday – since day one – to repair homes in [...]

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