The Roof That Came Off in Shreveport

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina scattered thousands of displaced families across Louisiana, a small congregation in Shreveport called Greater St. Mary Baptist Church faced a decision. Their own roof had been leaking for two years. They had finally saved eleven thousand dollars in their building fund — enough to patch it properly before winter. Pastor Willie Mae Johnson stood before her congregation of sixty-three people and said something nobody expected: "Our roof leaks.…