Baptists having services today in new building

The church will dedicate a memorial to the two firefighters crushed by the bell tower.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- More than two years after a fire destroyed their historic church and killed two firefighters, members of the Ebenezer Baptist Church opened a new building Saturday and prepared for the first services in their new home.
The congregation, with about 1,000 regularly attending members, had held services at the nearby Hillcrest Seventh-day Adventist Church while the new church was being built. Regular services will resume today.
"The church was not the building; the church is in the hearts of the membership," the Rev. J. Van Alfred Winsett said Friday. "But there's no place like home, and we're going home."
The Rev. Mr. Winsett said he will not forget watching flames dance from the stained-glass windows of the old church March 13, 2004. The bell tower collapsed, killing Pittsburgh Fire Bureau Battalion Chief Charles Brace, 55, and firefighter Richard Stefanakis, 51. The church, built in 1873, was destroyed.
Ebenezer Baptist will also dedicate a memorial to the firefighters on the first Sunday in December, Mr. Winsett said.
Members of the church said they were looking forward to all the advantages offered by their new home, a 7 million building featuring 11 classrooms, four offices, a commercial kitchen and a sophisticated audiovisual system.
"God's been good. ... Everything here is state-of-the-art," said the Rev. Stephen W.R. Morris Jr., 29, associate minister, as he helped wire a podium with multimedia equipment Friday.
Source of money
Donations for the new building, which seats nearly 1,200 people, came from various charitable foundations in the city, including the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Heinz Endowments and the PNC Foundation. Nearby Mount Ararat Baptist Church and Ebenezer members also pitched in.
"This is not a rich congregation, so believe me, this has been tough," said Mr. Winsett.
Ian Hundley, 24, has attended Ebenezer Baptist since he was 3. The old building will be missed, Hundley said.
"That's the church I grew up in," he said. "You can make new memories, but you never forget the old ones."
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