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. But the Martinez family sleeping in their car on Jewella Avenue has no roof at all."

The vote was not unanimous. Some members wept. A few left angry. But that Sunday, the church opened its fellowship hall to four displaced families. The building fund paid for cots, groceries, school supplies, and gas cards. For nine months, Greater St. Mary operated as both church and shelter, Sunday school rooms doubling as bedrooms.

Here is the part that still gets told around Shreveport: by the following spring, a roofing contractor from Texas who had heard the story drove up with a crew of twelve volunteers and replaced the entire roof for free. The church never spent a dime.