A ministry that began in southern California has spread to an Abilene church.

The Tabernacle Experience represents the covenant between God and Abraham by creating a replica of the Old Testament tabernacle.

Cynthia Coates, project manager for the TabX at ACS and children’s minister of Hillcrest Church of Christ, is helping orchestrate this event and said that the vision for the experience is simple.

“The goal of the Tabernacle Experience is for people to see the design of the original tabernacle,” Coates said. “For people to see that every act of worship is a foreshadow of Jesus Christ and the story of Jesus’ ministry.”

Guests are given an mp3 player with voice instructions that lead them on a tour of the tabernacle stations.

“They hear what God told Moses to do, and it refers to the New Testament and God’s calling in Hebrews and Revelations.” Coates said.

The inner workings of the traditional tabernacle are represented inside the replica. The voice recording explains the significance of each station.

80 people at a time can get the full Old Testament-style experience with a self guided tour that lasts about fifty minutes.

Close to 260 volunteers have offered their time to help with the seven hour set up process and during the day while people are touring.

But setting up and running the Tabernacle Experience is just a small portion of the time invested in creating the event.

“We’ve made lots of phone calls, made lots of announcements and ads, seeking help in church.” Coates said.

According to Coates, every hour of planning and volunteering has been critical in the success she has seen so far in the experience.

“We just want people to know about Christ,” Coates said. “We have a hurting world. There’s only one entrance to the tabernacle and God’s word said that Jesus is the gate, the only way is through him. He is the priest, he is the King of Kings continuing his duty at the right hand of God in heaven.”