The Secret of the Stones by Ernest Dempsey (reading fiction .TXT) 📕

number of people using it. This building, though, boasted more than three thousand patrons. Despite its large seating capacity, the church was forced to offer three services during the mornings just to accommodate everyone.

The four men cautiously approached the building. Unlike many churches in the South and Northeast that were essentially boxes that angled up to a point in the roof with a steeple at the front, the Beacon Tabernacle was most certainly a unique piece of architecture. Not cathedral-like either, its roof gradually rose to one side of the building and then dropped off dramatically. And there was no steeple, only three steel beams of varying heights precariously placed off to the side of the entrance on a separate patch of landscaping.

Another interesting point of note was the lack of crosses. Most Christian churches he’d seen had several crucifixes decorating windows, doorways, pretty much everything. It seemed odd that there were none at this location. In fact, the building seemed to be missing many stereotypical decorative items of Christianity. Two rows of slender stained glass windows decorated the pale brick walls of the exterior. But even though the sheer size of the place was impressive, the design itself seemed somewhat simple, almost made to look plain.

The shorter guard reached the large wooden doors of the church first and grabbed the brass handle. Apparently, the door weighed more than he expected, and the jerking motion pulled him off balance for a second. Slightly embarrassed, he held the door for the other three to walk in first.

Upon entering, the four men found themselves in something that completely offset the outside of the building. Just past the second set of large doors, the ceiling dramatically vaulted up into a five-story-high angled glass roof that extended the length of the room. On the other end of the vast atrium, a tiled staircase extended upward in front of elevator doors.

Even the usually stoic guards seemed impressed. The dumbfounded looks on their faces spoke to the fact that they had never seen anything quite like it. The church’s lobby wasn’t more amazing than the Sistine Chapel or any of the other great cathedrals of the world, but the striking beauty of the inside, when compared to the ordinary exterior of the building, truly was an amazing contrast.

As they stepped farther into the giant room, they saw an older man with a white head of hair at the other end of the mezzanine behind a welcome desk. He must have heard them enter because he was in the process of folding up his newspaper.

Ulrich’s patience with allowing Tommy to ask the questions had seemed to wear thin, and he spoke directly to the church worker. “We are from out of town and heard of your church from our friend here. Would it be possible for us to look around?”

It was unbelievable. Was this the same man who had just gunned down an innocent park ranger not half an hour ago? Now his demeanor had done a complete 180. He spoke smoothly and politely to the old man and did not appear to have any desire to hurt him at all, like a snake waiting quietly in the grass.

“Certainly,” the sexton replied. “Feel free to take a look around. The rooms and offices across the way there are closed for the day.” His skin-and-bone hand extended toward the place about which he was speaking. “But you can go up the elevator to see the balcony, and you may take a look around in the main floor of the sanctuary as well.” Thin lips pursed into a welcoming smile.

“Thank you,” was all that Ulrich offered.

Five sets of stairs led into the main sanctuary. Above, a small chapel was situated on the second floor, the outside wall of which was covered by a spectacular painting of multiple scenes from Jesus’s ministry. The pictorial history climaxed emotionally at the top with a depiction of the second coming. The canvas alone was at least fifteen feet in length and another eight feet wide.

Hurriedly, the four men moved toward the first set of stairs going into the inner lobby of the church. Once inside, several sets of windows allowed the faithful to see into the colossal main worship hall, probably to help the church members decide on a place to sit before actually walking through one of the four sets of wooden doors.

At the very front of the great auditorium, behind the pulpit, was one of the most impressive sights that Tommy had ever seen. The group slightly slowed their pace and passed through one of the doors on the left. Almost reverently, the group eased down the aisle toward a gigantic pipe organ that reached from the floor of the elevated stage to nearly three stories up to the wooden plank ceiling.

Its enormity wasn’t the only thing that made the instrument so impressive though. Intricate wooden carvings decorated the beast from top to bottom. Trees, vines, flowers, birds, and other animals looked almost as if they could come to life from the wood into which they’d been carved.

Above them, the sanctuary opened up like a huge airplane hangar. The angled roof soared to its apex near the left wall then dropped off to a much lower point on the right. In the very back, the church balcony loomed with an additional several hundred seats and the control center for the sound and video systems.

Tommy’s attention went back to the side walls of the church and the stained glass windows. From outside the tabernacle, the windows looked very dark, not quite black, and the colors were much duller. This made it difficult to see the details of the panes. But from the inside, the colors showed much more brilliantly. There were especially a