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On June 1, Hartzell Mt. Zion United Methodist Church was filled with children and adults singing, clapping, laughing and praising the Lord on First Sunday.

Almost 20 years ago, some of the same people were worshipping in lawn chairs outside after Hurricane Katrina sent a 30-foot wall of water from Lake Pontchartrain and three surrounding rivers over Slidell in August 2005.

The sanctuary was flooded with over 6 feet of water and everything inside was destroyed.

In 2005, the Rev. Ernest Scott told his outdoor congregation, “You look so dear to me. Feel the gentle breeze of our God. He sends the wind and the rain, but he still sends a gentle breeze.”

The Rev. Tiffanie Postell, the current pastor, said the faithful members of the church are the sons and daughters and grandchildren and great grandchildren of the two churches — Hartzell Methodist Episcopal Church (erected in 1899) and Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church (organized in 1882) — that merged in 1967.

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