The Walmarthanara Evangelical Church of the Nazarene

The Walmarthanara Evangelical Church of the Nazarene  (cont'd)

       by Holly Anthou-Braun

                       

       Greeters greet the subjects of the Transcona Walmarthanara Evangelical Church of the Nazarene. I attended last Sunday. What the message was does not concern me at the moment since I wish to tell you about the architecture and the grounds. The washrooms (and I would estimate about twenty in number) come equipped with large cubicles, doors right down to the floor as they tend to build them in France for the sake of privacy. The first thing I noticed in Paris in the airport was a toilet stall, not as spacious as those in the Walmarthanara but with walls to the ceiling and doors to the floor allowing no one to see or even hear anything inside. At my feet I discovered the most astonishing pornographic magazine that I had till that day beheld. I won't go into details about the lurid practices it depicted.

       The ceilings of rarely stained and polished birch it looks to me. Time cures wood even when treated and coated. If this ceiling becomes any richer I wonder what high beauty it will radiate five hundred years hence! They laminate thin boards (one inch by twelve inch boards) together to a thickness of, at its extreme, forty-five inches. These the modern builders sculpt and shape to make the great beams in the main sanctuary that reach to the very peak of the edifice at least sixty feet up. The rest of the church, in what seems to me a marvel of technical carpentry, makes use not of beam work but of ordinary framing. So, a traditional cathedral sanctuary combines with a modern labyrinth of rooms and hallways so intricate  that a member who had not been with the church long might well find his way to the service interrupted, nay, delayed. The windows all ordinary; no stained glass here. Expense accounts for none of the building decisions. Stained glass may have been simply not thought of by the organizers. Had they, they would have, I think.

       I especially enjoy the nooks and crannies deliberately constructed with furniture for private reflection and reading. Good lighting in all these quiet places means that even someone as shortsighted as myself may read and, yes, pray, with ease and in comfort.

       Now the grounds! I won't go into detail at this time, more than list its features. Wonderful! Wonderful! The nine hole golf course with sand traps and water hazards still under construction, the cross country ski trail through its oak and poplar forest (a hundred and sixty acres), the snowmobile trails linked to the larger provincial trails and the user of which must pay a small annual premium, the walking paths, fountains, grottos, baseball diamonds and tennis courts, the quaint log cabins for marriage counseling, the shelters for the meditative pilgrim, and the neatly kept flower gardens represent just a beginning of the glories of this church. I recommend anyone to begin attending here. The membership is free, besides a hope from the community for a ten percent of personal earnings yearly contribution from individual members, and the people exceptionally friendly.