Historic Pittsburgh-area church destroyed in fire will have to rebuild

A historic Indiana Township, Allegheny County, church that was devastated by a fire in May will have to be torn down and rebuilt, the church's pastor said.

"It was a very difficult future to swallow, but we're trying to look forward," said Trinity United Church of Christ Rev. David Mears. 

Their goal, he said, is to make the new church look as similar to the last church as they can, explaining it's what the community wants. However, it won't be an exact replica, he said. Some of the building, for instance, did not meet fire code.

"In other words, we hope there will be a steeple, it'll be white, gonna paint the doors red, that kind of thing," Mears said.

They've received $120,000 in donations. Insurance is paying $2 million. It could still cost more, forcing what Mears calls hard decisions. He admits it's all a difficult topic to discuss.

"This was not anything I expected to have to do in ministry," Mears said. "Before I went to seminary, I worked in construction in Pittsburgh for 10 years. I kind of have a sense of what exactly this is going to take and how hard this is going to be over the next year and a half to two years."  

He says he knows how hard the path forward is for everyone, both from tough choices ahead and the ways they're being forced to adapt in the meantime.

Mears said they hope to save their stained glass windows.   

He says the new church will be more accessible and useful, allowing them to physically welcome people the same way they theologically welcome them.

"I'm the type of person who goes, 'here's an opportunity,'" Mears said. "I'm sad. We were perfectly content the way it was, but there are things that we can make better." 

It will make the church of the future better than the church of the past.

Mears allowed KDKA cameras inside the sanctuary to show just how bad the damage is, making demolition necessary over repairs. Pieces of insulation cover the ground. Charred pieces of wood sit in the pews. Part of the roof is gone. 

"Every time I walk in here, I just get really, really sad for a while," Mears said. 

The church building was 150 years old.  

"The smell is really bad and it kind of hits me every time I have to go in the other side of the building into my office to grab a book or something," Mears said.

There are cracks in the plaster. Initially, they'd hoped to repair what was broken. They quickly realized a demolition of the main sanctuary was their only option. Anything else was too expensive. 

"Structurally, it's no longer safe," Mears said.

The church has continued to hold services both online and at a local funeral home. They were also able to save an addition to the sanctuary that was built in the 50s. It will have to be refurbished.