After Katrina destroyed his church, pastor makes new life in Itasca

As he and other New Orleans residents fled Hurricane Katrina, the Rev. Jim McLain had no idea how much destruction the approaching storm would bring.

"When we left, I took about a week's worth of clothing," McLain said. "We took our three dogs and figured we'd be home in a few days."

That was more than two years ago.

One of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history left McLain without a house and without a congregation. The 100 members of his New Orleans church left the city -- many vowing never to return.

And McLain has since found a new home and new flock to lead here in the suburbs.

This year, he settled into his new role as the pastor of Itasca's First Presbyterian Church. And just this month, McLain and his wife, Jean, bought a house in Roselle.

"Long story cut short, the church and the McLains found each other, and we couldn't be happier," said Jerilyn Willin, an elder at the Itasca church.

Just another storm?

McLain had seen storm threats come and go in the roughly 26 years he led Peace Presbyterian Church on New Orleans' east side.

There was nothing to indicate Hurricane Katrina would end his "wonderful relationship" with New Orleans.

"I had a wonderful church," he said. "And my wife thoroughly enjoyed her position as a teacher in the Orleans Parish Public School system since 1996."

On the morning of Aug. 27, 2005, the day before the storm, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin called for the city's evacuation.

Rather than leaving immediately, McLain contacted all 100 members of his church.

"We wanted to urge them to evacuate and let them know we intended to do the same," he said.

The following day, Aug. 28, was a Sunday. The storm had arrived, but McLain and his wife stopped by the church "in case we had any visitors who chanced it."

By noon, the couple was about 150 miles east at a relative's home in Lafayette, La.

The next morning, they were glued to news coverage. Hours after believing they had weathered the storm and could return, the McLains learned of the deadly 17th Street Canal levee break.

"That's when we realized, 'OK. It's not going to be just a few days until we go home,' " McLain said.

Covered in slime

Five weeks passed before McLain could return to his church and assess the damage.

He vividly remembers every gruesome detail.

"The floor of the church was covered in a slime that smelled like nothing I have ever smelled in my life," McLain said. "It was horrible. It was an odor of mold and mildew and raw sewage and some petrol chemicals."

He said the slime was so slick that it was "almost like trying to stand on an ice rink in glass slippers."

Inside, the church's prized piano was flipped on its side and covered in muck. And the baptismal font, once at the front of the church, was jammed between the pews at the rear of the sanctuary.

"My image for it was to picture a building full of six feet of water with the water churning around inside, like it was agitating in a washing machine," McLain said. "And everything is just chaotically thrown back and forth."

In their nearby home, the McLains found clothes and furniture strewn about and ruined beyond recognition.

They left in a "state of total shock."

"We had no idea the damage would be quite that serious," McLain said.

Only a few return

McLain wanted to talk to his congregation before making the decision whether to stay in New Orleans or leave.

All 100 members survived the storm. But none of them stayed in the city -- and few planned to return.

"About 90 percent of them told me they would never return," McLain said. "At that point, our presbytery, with the agreement of our elders, said there's no point in even keeping that church open. So it was resolved."

The McLains searched for work, but rural Louisiana didn't offer any employment opportunities for either of them.

After about six months, the couple moved to Gurnee to stay with their son and his family. They later rented a townhouse and waited for a calling.

"I could have gotten a job selling burgers, and I was getting close to doing that," McLain said. "But ministry is what I do and Presbyterian is who I am."

The call from Itasca's First Presbyterian Church came just before the one-year lease on the McLains' Gurnee townhouse expired.

The pastor of the Itasca church had resigned -- leaving the congregation with a series of temporary replacements.

McLain, the third and final in the rotation, performed his first sermon for the congregation in February. Soon after he accepted the job as pastor.

A special joy

McLain has brought a new message and an emphasis on celebration that has caught on with parishioners.

"Pre-Katrina, a lot of my preaching was a bit more theological and a little bit drier," he said. "Since coming here, the strongest thing that I have wanted to do in each and every worship service is to celebrate."

Ellen Glatz, a 30-year member of First Presbyterian Church, says she knew McLain was "the one" after watching his first sermon.

"I just hang on his every word because every week he comes up with the most meaningful messages," she said. "He ties current events into biblical themes like no other."

Now that he's settled into his new home in Roselle, McLain said he is happy with the changes to his life.

"There is a special joy in saying, 'This is ours. We have chosen this,' " McLain said. "We have our home and our new church family for Christmas."

The McLains miss their friends in Louisiana, and they keep in touch via e-mail and telephone calls.

But when it comes to the damaged house in New Orleans that he used to call his home, McLain said he has no desire to return.

"That's not home anymore," he said. "That's an empty piece of property we used to live in. But the people who made that our community and our family are long gone."