When I heard that Crown of Life, New Orleans, La., was being rededicated, I wanted to be there. I had watched the story of Crown of Life unfold from those first hours after Hurricane Katrina when reports came in that the church was flooded. I had visited New Orleans to talk to Builders For Christ volunteers as they worked on the church property through the winter of 2005. I had sat in the living rooms of congregation members and listened as they told me their Katrina stories. I suspected that traveling to Louisiana for the rededication would provide a nice ending to the story. Like many stories before it, this one had a beginning, it had a middle, and it was going to have an end. Or so I thought.

Finding an ending

You couldn’t have asked for a better day to hold a rededication service. Under a cloudless sky and a moderate 70 degrees, people congregated outside Crown of Life, greeting each other with exclamations of "You made it!" and warm handshakes and hugs. The service itself was uplifting and inspiring. The choir sang songs that shook the rafters and brought tears to most eyes. Pastor David Sternhagen reminded the assembly through his sermon on John 3:16 that the rededication was possible because of the love of Christ working through his dear children. As the last notes of the choir’s benediction hung in the air, and Sternhagen once again expressed his gratitude on behalf of the congregation, I thought I had my story. All I needed to do was interview a few people, and the article would write itself.

Things changed, though, as I began talking to my first interviewee, Wanda Webb-Theodore. I asked her to tell me her story. Emotions were close to the surface for many people that day, and Webb-Theodore was no exception. The tears quietly fell as she said, "We lost everything. Our house was gutted from floor to ceiling. It’s hard. It’s still hard. We’ve only been back since June."

It was then that I realized that this story wasn’t just about a rebuilt church and tying things up in a nice neat bow. It was and continues to be about people whose homes are still in ruins, who are just getting back to work, and who harbor deep scars from a tragedy no one understands unless they lived through it. It’s a story that has yet to find an ending.

Even so, a common theme continues to wind through it. When I asked people how they continue to stay positive, members echoed Michael Walker’s thought: "It’s the church. It’s our backbone, and it keeps us going."