Springdale Church Founded By Immigrants Burglarized
SPRINGDALE (KDKA) -- It takes a lot to break the heart of nearly 73-year-old Reverend Joseph Posta – without a doubt a man of unwavering faith.
"I take this literally from the Bible, 'Be faithful till death and I will give you the crown of life,'" he said.
Scavengers have stripped every bit of copper and much of the stainless steel from his Springdale Hungarian Reformed Protestant Church on Walters Lane.
Gaping holes bear witness to the metals' removal. A huge kitchen sink is missing along with antique copper collection plates and heavy candlesticks passed through generations – all gone.
But they did spare one item.
"A beautiful cross … silver, gold-plated and they did not take that one by fear or respect – probably by fear you know," Posta said.
This minister spent 13-years in a Romanian labor camp before savoring the freedom of this country. Now his American Dream is being tested.
"And here we are, here in this great country, people go down so low, so low that they can enter for a few bucks," he said.
Church Elder Paul Henry discovered the theft last Sunday. Only one service is held here a month.
"We don't have any insurance to cover it," Henry said. "We just couldn't afford the $2,000 a year premium."
The church was founded by Hungarian immigrants a century ago after a terrible mine explosion killed more than 200 of them.
Chris Householder heard what happened and stopped to help. His grandparents, Vim and Maria Mattie, came from Budapest as one of the early church families.
"For somebody to do this around the holidays to a church – an already struggling church," he said.
"How in the world we would be able to go through this upcoming winter?" wonders Rev. Posta.
There is no heat and no water for the tiny congregation, but faith is known to move mountains.
"And this is something which the Lord give to me and we have to go through it," Posta said.
Paul Henry adds, "We're gonna do our best. By God's grace, we'll still be around as long as we can."
