Easter Service Comes From Ashes of Church Ruined by Fire

With a podium for an altar and a grand ballroom for a sanctuary, members of the Perfecting New Life Church still held Easter services at Embassy Suites. The fire ruined the Little Rock church building Monday afternoon, putting its members out, but not into the cold. "Our church has endured fire, they put the fire out with water, and becasue of some of the water we have damage in the church. But we`re on our way to our wealthy place," said Pastor Carolyn Allen, during the service in the ballroom. "I need this church, I need to hear the word every single Sunday to make my week better," said member Lorrenda Jordan. She works at the hotel and has offered to pay for the church`s first service there. Its her chance, she says to give back to the church that`s given her so much. "Because of everything they did for me, I mean Pastor Allen, Pastor C, never asked for the money back that they gave me for my medical bills, my doctor bills," said Jordan. Eight years ago, the church started in skating rink, with only 30 members. Now there are over 300. "The remembrance of how much work and how much time was invested in where we came from, we thank God for where we`re going but we`re also grieving because of the labor placed into the building where we were," said Pastor Carolyn Allen. That building is being rebuilt. But Allen`s husband, Pastor Kevin Allen says it`s OK. "Our prayer is that we`ll be able to reconstruct it bigger and better," said Pastor Kevin Allen. Because out of this disaster, will come new opportunities. Next week`s service will be held at the Holiday Inn Select on Shackleford, but every service after that will be back at Embassy Suites. The pastors say they`re expecting reconstruction on the church to take about seven to eight months.