Sunday Oguntola, who undertook a tour of the state-of-the-art cathedral built by the ‘House on the Rock’ ahead of its commissioning, reports the structure represents a new frontier in the annals of church history in Nigeria.
The breath-taking experience begins from the gate. The imposing 10,000-seater auditorium welcomes every guest with an array of aesthetic beauty. The water fountain with 12 rocks at the frontage accentuates the cool ambience in the vicinity. The amazing experience swells one’s heart as the main entrance beckons.
Welcome to the mouth-watering House on The Rock Cathedral. Located in the serene, highbrow Elegushi Estate in Lekki, Lagos, the cathedral, like many love to say, is more than a structure. It is simply an architectural masterpiece poised to give visitors unforgettable worship experience.
IT- compliant auditorium
The auditorium with over five foyers boasts a recording studio ready to beam every service live. The visual and audio facilities were imported from Greece to make recordings heart-swelling. Fully air-conditioned with comfortable seating arrangements, the auditorium is reputed to have the longest unsupported span for any public building in the nation. It reportedly covers a space of 80 metres.
There are six projectors to spotlight happenings in every nook and cranny of the majestic auditorium. The 14 multi-media screens allow worshippers to have a full view of proceeding from any corner. The two media centres in the hall feed worshippers with glorious images and sound bites within the auditorium. The eight remotely-controlled cameras boast information dissemination without fuss.
More than a church
setting
The cathedral, which requires four-and-half hours of extensive tour to cover, is, however, not just about worship and services. It is more or less a mini-community centre. It has an expansive exhibition hall designed to promote godly enterprises. Senior Pastor of the church, Pastor Paul Adefarasin, said the idea is to offer a “one-stop centre for Christians looking for materials and goods of every kind.”
Located close to the multi-purpose hall, a world-class restaurant, which conveniently sits 250 people, offers meals for the nourishing comfort of guests. Adefarasin said the restaurant is open to the public at every time of the day for wonderful culinary experiences. There is also a facility for E-bank to ensure guests never run out of immediate cash.
The toilet facilities easily meet international best practices. Lightening is censored at the various convenience centres to illuminate the paths of users with every movement. For VIPs and top government functionaries, the cathedral boasts a private elevator that leads to a lush lounge exclusively reserved for them.
Community relevance
To confirm its community usefulness, the facility also runs a free clinic where residents can access treatments. Adefarasin said the best medical practitioners have been engaged to run the clinic. In the nearest future, he said the church intends to run 46 mobile clinic units to boost healthcare services across the state.
A gymnasium with state-of-the-art facilities allows guests to relax and exercise at no costs. There is also a prayer chapel with gallery that seats no fewer than 400 people for quiet communion with God. The chapel has a massive piano to boost musical worship. There are also administrative offices and over 22 classrooms with smart boards for relaxed learning experience.
The car park comfortably accommodates 2,000 cars protected by 160 CCTV. All facilities within the auditorium are disabled-friendly from the parking lot to the auditorium. Adefarasin, a trained architect, developed the design for the entire cathedral. He said the whole idea is to have more than a church structure that can attend to the needs of communities around the church.
“We don’t just want to exist for ourselves. We want to be able to accommodate residents in the communities around us for services that are crucial to their wellbeing and conveniences,” he reiterated.
He hinted that measures have been taken to ensure adequate maintenance of the massive structure. A maintenance endowment fund, Adefarasin disclosed, has been established to ensure that the cathedral undergoes complete overhaul every five years.
Speaking on challenges encountered during the building process, he said many left the church when he conceived and announced the project. “They felt we were too ambitious and would never be able to do it,” he explained. The project, which started in 2003, he stated, also ran into funding hitches.
“This(project) has taught me to believe in God and God alone for provisions. I went to many captains of industry to help but nothing came from them,” he added. Adefarasin said the cathedral, which will be commissioned on April 20-21, was nothing but the “sweat of our members.”
He said it was completed debt-free without external financial support or assistance. Stating that the cathedral represents the faithfulness of God to the church, Adefarasin said: “We are still in a state of unbelief. Sometimes we pinch ourselves that indeed our dream has become a reality.”
