{"id":243229,"date":"2026-07-14T16:59:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/243229\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T16:59:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:59:26","slug":"rising-from-the-ashes-pittsburgh-ucc-church-celebrates-175-year-anniversary-after-fire-damages-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/243229\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising from the Ashes: Pittsburgh UCC Church celebrates 175 year anniversary after fire damages sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, May 3, the Rev. David Mears was working in his office at the Trinity United Church of Christ<\/a> in Pittsburgh\u2019s Indiana Township area, as he typically did. Nothing out of the ordinary, until Mears\u2019 secretary began to smell something unusual. They went on a search around the building, but were unable to locate the originating source of the smell.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was 2 o\u2019clock in the afternoon. The secretary went home for the day, but the smell, according to Mears, was getting stronger and stronger. Finally, Mears decided to call Trinity\u2019s building committee head to come help investigate. The lead showed up, went on a search, and Mears returned to his office. Moments later, everything changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c[Dennis] came in and said, \u2018Get out and call 911,\u2019\u201d recalled Mears. \u201cI looked at him and said \u2018Really\u2019? He goes, \u2018Really!\u2019\u201d Within a matter of minutes, the 150-year-old sanctuary was engulfed in flames. The fire caused the roof at the back of the church to collapse, and smoke could be seen rising from the building\u2019s landmark steeple. It was devastating, said Mears, but thankfully, no one was injured.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The aftermath of fire that destroyed the sanctuary of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Pittsburgh. May 3, 2026.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, June 28, Trinity UCC celebrated its 175th anniversary at the Hampton Inn and Suites in nearby Harmanville. While the congregation wasn\u2019t celebrating the way it had hoped, congregants filled the conference room with songs, prayers, community, and hope for the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Welcoming Church<\/p>\n

The Rev. Carl Richter, a retired UCC minister who served Trinity from 1994-2003, served as the guest preacher for that Sunday\u2019s service. His message centered around Trinity being a \u2018welcoming church,\u2019 and looking at the fire as an opportunity to more fully live into that vision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of extravagant welcome has to go beyond the new walls you\u2019re about to build,\u201d said Richter in his sermon to the congregation. \u201cBeyond our weekly passing of the peace, so please keep that in mind as you\u2019re designing your new meeting space.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The Rev. Carl Richter gave the keynote message during Trinity\u2019s 175th anniversary celebration on Sunday, June 28, 2026 at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The Rev. Dave Mears (right) stands with the Rev. Carl Richter at Trinity\u2019s 175th anniversary celebration on Sunday, June 28, 2026.<\/p>\n

It was a message that longtime church member Dana Schulte, agrees with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe church isn\u2019t the walls, the church is the people, something we\u2019ve been saying for years,\u201d said Schulte.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trinity has long been a pillar in the Pittsburgh area, from its landmark steeple, white frame, and red doors, to its service throughout the community. The outpouring of support from that community, as well as others from around the country, has been heartwarming for Mears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to thank my many colleagues from across the country, and especially my colleagues from the Keystone Conference,\u201d said Mears. \u201cThey have been remarkable. We have received so many gifts. It probably chokes me up more than anything, because you don\u2019t think anyone knows what you\u2019re doing, but they do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tearing Down to Rebuild Anew<\/p>\n

The 150-year-old sanctuary fire on Saxonburg Boulevard was ruled accidental by the Allegheny County Fire Marshal\u2019s Office. From the outside, the building doesn\u2019t appear to have taken a bad hit. Inside, it\u2019s a different story. The roof of the building was destroyed, and the walls of the inside are soaked with water. The pews and floor are covered with charred remains and ashes, and the congregation\u2019s piano was also destroyed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After meeting with the church\u2019s restoration committee, it was determined that the sanctuary will have to be torn down and rebuilt.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"Members of Trinity UCC worship together in song at the church\u2019s 175th anniversary celebration on Sunday, June 28.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to try to put it back on the outside as similar as possible,\u201d said Mears of the rebuilding plans. \u201cWe knew we were a landmark, but we did not realize how much of a landmark we were.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mears shared that the fire is, in a way, a blessing in disguise, because it will allow the church to build a new, modern, ADA compliant worship space that will be accessible to all persons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou can\u2019t have resurrections unless there\u2019s death, so I said, \u2018This is the death. Now it\u2019s time for your resurrection,\u201d said Richter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Along with making the worship space more accessible, it will be lifted so that rooms that sit underneath can be used. In its current layout, the ceilings are too low, and much of the basement space wasn\u2019t up to code.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Both Mears and Richter have expressed optimism about the future of Trinity. They hope that with the new sanctuary, and a renewed commitment to being a welcoming church, this will set them up for success now and in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing this congregation, this isn\u2019t going to stop them. They\u2019re going to move forward,\u201d said Richter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUnited Church of Christ News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Wednesday, May 3, the Rev. David Mears was working in his office at the Trinity United Church…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[38771,39566,8630,73,75,74,104261],"class_list":["post-243229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-ashes","tag-church-fire","tag-damage","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-trinity-ucc-pittsburgh"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}