 Around this time , winter was threatening and in order for the walls of the new church to be protected from potential damage , the roof had to be laid before any snow began to fall . This meant that more workers were needed to get the job done faster . This was a problem because the church 's account did not contain enough money to employ more men . As soon as the committee of 100 became aware of this , they began asking for help . They found 30 parishioners who were each willing to lend another $ 500 each . These parishioners had already given high contributions to the new church but were still willing to help . As a result , the church had an extra $ 15 @,@ 000 to pay for the construction of the roof . Every day for about two months , over fifty parishioners worked on building the church roof . In December 1941 , the roof was completed . One of the men who helped complete the roof read about the attack on Pearl Harbor in the newspapers and decided to quit his work on the church and enlist in the United States Air Force . James <unk> was the congregation 's first casualty in the war . There is a plaque with his name and date of death on the pier . 
