This pew tells the story of Christ's crucifixion in three scenes. On the left is the town of Jerusalem where His trail took place. A path winds down to Golgotha and shows Christ and the two thieves on the crosses while mourners weep. On the right is the empty tomb which signifies His resurrection.

I found this pew in Reynolds Nebraska at a consignment auction with 2 others. Original price was $20. I had the pew for about 4 years until I started carving the first week of January 2014. I worked through the winter and finished it just in time for Easter in the 3rd week of April 2014. Here is a blog post on my website that shows the progress from start to finish.

I can't count the hours that I have put into the carving, but an estimate would be at about 700 to 800. I used hand chisels for a majority of the carving, and used a Dremel tool to carve some detail in the bushes and hair and the text on the seat. I found that the oak was too hard on the carbide tipped Dremel bits and they wore out quickly!

The text on the seat of the bench reads from Luke 23:34, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do". These are the first words the Christ spoke upon the cross and they are powerful words of forgiveness.

I also built the stained glass panel using a variety of glass that was on hand in my studio. This is the largest piece I had made to date.

The lightbox at the back of the pew contains a double fluorescent light unit that can be easily accessed by undoing the hatches and lowering the lightbox to the floor.