When the Rev. John Lolla began writing the history of his congregation at Plum Creek Presbyterian Church in 2003, he knew it would be a big project. But five years, five volumes and 2,200 pages later, “The Creek Runs Deep: Two Centuries of Salvation History,” has turned out to be more than the history of one church in Plum.

The Rev. Lolla, who grew up near Sandusky, Ohio, and holds a doctor of ministry degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, said the work was requested by his church’s Session leaders to commemorate Plum Creek’s 200th anniversary.

The minister to the Plum Creek congregation since 1983, the Rev. Lolla said the key to writing the work was his decision to focus on the stories of the church’s members rather than on the church as an institution. “That freed me to include genealogical information, family stories, personal experiences,” said the Rev. Lolla, 56.

He also consulted historical documents and scholarly accounts of the past 200 years. He said he collected all of the information with two larger goals in mind. First, he asked, “How do people live out the doctrines they were taught? How do their religious convictions affect their decisions?”

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