Throughout the course of my life, I have worshipped in a wide variety of sanctuaries.

When I was very young, my family attended a church that met in the chapel of a large funeral home in historic downtown Birmingham. There was no nursery or Sunday school, so young and old all worshipped together in the beautiful yet stark sanctuary.

In my elementary school years, my family moved our church membership to the small church associated with the Christian school I attended. When I transitioned to public school several years later, we started attending a church closer to our home, the largest Baptist church in the area, a sprawling traditional sanctuary.

Later, in high school, I began attending, with friends, an older, smaller Baptist church in our area, and my family followed suit. When the pastor began introducing a more contemporary second service, the very-traditional sanctuary took on an interesting mix of pews and high-tech elements. This service eventually broke off into its own church—what started off in the pastor's living room moved progressively to bigger facilities, and it is now one of the largest community churches in the area.

My husband and I now attend another one of the megachurches in suburban Birmingham, and my first and current sanctuaries could not be more different. Instead of beautiful wooden pews on tiled floor, I now sit in plush theater-style seating on carpet covering multiple tiers of rows. Instead of stained glass filtering in the morning light, our visual element now consists of large projection screens broadcasting lyrics to the praise and worship music I love. I treasure both facilities, and every one in between, equally.

All of these various sanctuary styles exist in the same city, which I think is indicative of large cities across the country these days. There are different types of churches, different types of worship, and, thus, different types of sanctuaries to reflect each unique facility and style.

In our annual Outfitting the Sanctuary issue, we provide information—from seating to stained glass to furniture to accessories—to give your sanctuary, the heart of your church, the perfect feel.

I'm always interested in hearing from you. You can reach me at jill@rpnmag.com.

God Bless,

Jill Pinheiro
Managing Editor