About Easter Sunday, church and Life

Yesterday's Easter services marked the re-opening of North Phoenix Baptist Church's newly remodeled sanctuary. The just-finished work represents the first face-lift for this building in over 25 years. The need for such is clear by the title of this music-ministry offering: The Orange Carpet Project.

The sanctuary retains roughly the same seating capacity but the remodel has changed the dynamics of the room drastically; gone is the cavernous feeling of the old open room, replaced by a room made much more intimate by better use of smaller space. That was a key element for this project in the hope that form would meet function in allowing as many worship participants to experience the service in a personal way. Based on the experience of yesterday, I firmly believe that the design team succeeded in reaching this goal!

From my seat at the back of the floor, I also couldn't help noticing the number of handicapped individuals present for the late service. Handicapped access is more visible, or at least seemed to be yesterday, with multiple wheelchair spaces available in the back row of the front floor sections and even along the back of the walkway that separates the front floor seats from the first of the tiered seating.

I counted at least four individuals in wheelchairs and one other sitting normally but who clearly had some sort of disability. Given the focus on Terri Schiavo in the last week plus, my thoughts were of course drawn to that; and the contrast between the way these individuals' families were obviously treating them. It moved me to near-tears more than once.

As to the service itself, it was a bulls-eye! We're hopelessly lost and Easter represents God's purchase of Man from back from Death.

"Christ is Risen!"

"He is risen, indeed!"

"Hallelujah!"