This Easter season, more than 5,000 people are expected to enter the doors of Second Baptist Church, Warner Robins in central Georgia to see a performance of the church's annual Easter drama. Since its first performance nearly 20 years ago, the yearly three-night production had outgrown the church's sanctuary and for the past six years had been staged at the local civic center.

But in October 2004, Second Baptist's new, 62,000 square-foot worship center, designed and built by Century Builders, Inc. of Houston , was completed. This year, the drama is coming home.

"It will be a big deal-it always is," said Gary Morton, minister of music and administration at the church, located about 100 miles south of Atlanta . "But this year will be especially emotional."

That's because, just as the church is celebrating Easter in its new facility, it also is mourning the death of its pastor of 48 years, Rev. I.F. "Rastus" Salter. It was the 80-year-old Salter who had the vision for this new facility and guided it to completion. In November-just about a month and a half after preaching his first sermon in the new sanctuary-he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Salter died in January.

"He was such a humble man-a real man of God," said Brady Eggleston, vice president of operations for Century Builders.

Eggleston remembers seeing Salter stand at his office window, overseeing each step of the building process. In fact, a local television station reported his death by saying Salter "mentally laid every brick" in the new worship facility.

On the day of Salter's funeral, Morton played a portion of an audiotape from one of the pastor's earlier sermons.

"Brother Rastus told the church that our best days are still ahead," recalled Morton. "He wanted the church not to be built around him, but he laid a strong foundation. Because of that foundation, we are having great days. He left us very healthy."

The 52-year-old church moved to its current location in 1974. Building projects have been steady over the years, including the addition of a new family life center in 1996.

"After that, Brother Rastus said, 'Let's keep going,'" Morton said. "So, we kept praying and saving money."

A few years ago, the church was able to purchase some adjacent property and began planning for the new $8.5-million worship center. Part of that plan included contacting Century Builders and meeting with the company to assess the church's current membership and facilities, as well as its budget, space needs for various ministries and plans for future growth. Century was able to help the church define the type of facility it should build.

In addition to the new sanctuary, the recent addition includes a large lobby area, a music suite, a baptistery, a choir rehearsal room, two video and audio production rooms, a large conference room and a special storage room with a 30-foot ceiling to store the many banners used, especially in the Easter drama.

"We used traditional materials for the exterior, including brick," said Eggleston, noting the church design is very traditional, as is typically popular in the South. A large tower at the front of the worship center also gives the church a traditional feel.

The sanctuary itself was designed with production in mind. In addition to the Easter drama, the church has several other musical and children's productions throughout the year.

The choir risers are motorized, and, while the choir loft seats 165 people, it is collapsible and slides back against the wall to allow for added stage space. Five different motorized theatrical curtains can be raised or lowered as needed over the drama platform, which also includes room for an orchestra. With two separate sound and lighting booths and two catwalks, each performance has a professional look and feel. A performance balcony and a raised alcove add production versatility in the 2,000-seat sanctuary.

"With the cascade seating, there is not a bad seat in the house," Eggleston said, noting the auditorium-like feel of the sanctuary. One special touch, he added, is a large stained-glass piece that was designed by church members and then custom built and installed in the new worship center.

A striking feature of the new facility is the 5,500-square-foot lobby, with a towering ceiling and room for lots of worshipers to congregate before and after services.

"It's a great place for folks to stand around and fellowship," Morton said, which is important to a church with more than 3,000 members and about 2,000 people worshiping regularly.

The biggest obstacle faced in this building project was weather that would not cooperate.

"In the beginning, Georgia was in a drought, but just after we started the project, it began to rain," noted Eggleston. "We had more than 70 rain days, and that slowed us down."

What would have been a 14-month project extended to about 16 months.

Other minor setbacks included a delay in getting some steel ceiling grids that had been ordered, and there were minor problems with the carpet installation-neither of which were detrimental to the project.

At one critical point during construction, the superintendent working on the project had a death in the family and had to leave the worksite for several days. However, Eggleston went in his place to keep construction moving along at a steady pace.

There were a few glitches, but from the church's perspective, everything went smoothly.

"The people at Century knew what they were doing," Morton said. "They were a dream to work with. There was nothing we came up with that they weren't prepared to handle."

Based in Houston, Century Builders, www.century-builders.com , is a 27-year-old family-owned firm, specializing in the design and construction of churches all across the country. Each week, more than 250,000 people worship in facilities designed and built by Century Builders.