Keeping the faith

Jennifer Kho

Reaching their arms toward God and swaying to the beat, Rock Harbor

Church members sing songs of worship and rise to their feet in an ovation

to their emotions.

The mixed Costa Mesa congregation -- with the largest part of the

mixture made up of young adults -- greets its members like family at each

service, dispensing easy hugs, kisses, handshakes and smiles.

The rapidly growing nondenominational church has a lot to smile about.

Three years ago, about 300 people began the church -- which now meets

at the Costa Mesa Senior Center -- wanting to worship God in their own

way.

But, like the loaves and the fishes, the church attendance has

multiplied.

Now, the services attract nearly 2,000 members every week.

“It’s been truly amazing to watch God change everything we do, the

excitement that happens and the affect it has on everybody who walks

through the door,” said Stacy Scott, spokeswoman for the church. “We

don’t know why this has been so successful, but it’s great.”

The rapid growth also has its complications: For about a year, the

church has unsuccessfully been looking for a newhome to accommodate its

congregation.

Pastor Keith Page likens the search to a “great adventure.” He added

that it is tempting to think of a church as building, when what it really

is, is “God’s people.”

Even so, volunteer Lynn Fishel said the congregation is leaving no

stone unturned in its search for a larger place.

The church has increased its amount of services to four on Sundays --

at 9 and 11 a.m., and 5 and 7 p.m. -- but it is still overflowing with

worshipers, she said.

“We’ve been looking at anything in Costa Mesa that could reasonably be

big enough,” Fishel said. “We’re looking at long term, short term,

anything we can get. We don’t want to move out of Costa Mesa. We’re

limited because of land, but we want to stay here. The problem has

usually been parking. That’s a problem right now too. We know on Sunday

mornings people are driving away because there’s no parking, and we don’t

want that.”

The church, which has offices in a duplex at the corner of 17th Street

and Monrovia, will consider a site even if it has no building, as long as

it’s big enough to put up a tent and hold the congregants’ cars, Scott

said.

One of the many places being considered is the Orange County

Fairgrounds, where every few months the church holds “stirrings,”

services made up of collaborations between churches of different

denominations.

Rock Harbor is not alone in its struggles to balance growth with space

needs. Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church recently told Page that

his church grew to 10,000 members before it found a facility.

“I thought, ‘God, that’s encouraging,’ ” Page said. “We’re only at a

couple thousand.”

The church’s lack of a permanent location has not been all bad. It has

lead Rock Harbor’s congregation to organize outreach events.

Last month, when the senior center closed to install new floors, the

church organized a “city to city” event, in which members from five

cities put together services in different Edwards Cinema theaters.

The need that has driven the church to coordinate events in different

places has brought the congregation together, and has instilled a deep

sense of community, volunteer Nancy Harris said.

“It’s just the whole team concept,” she said. “Everyone’s kind of on

the same page and [is] really dedicated. A lot of times at other

churches, it seems like 5% of the people are doing all the work. At Rock

Harbor, it seems like if there’s something to do, so many people step up

to the plate. Here, you feel a call to get involved. You’re really just

moved.”

Harris said she hopes the church remains the same even after it finds

a permanent home.

“The thing that really got me is the level of worship,” she said.

“People are outreaching to the community and praying for you. At other

churches, you really could go and leave and never connect with anyone.

Because we meet in the senior center, it’s a lot more intimate. Sometimes

when you get a larger church body, you begin to feel disconnected. But

here it is very easy to connect.”

Page said he doesn’t think a building would change that.

“Even if we were to land a building that we were in seven days a week,

I still think God would continue to remind us that hey, this isn’t the

church, this is just the building we gather in,” Page said.

As an alternative to a new location, Scott said the church may

consider remaining building-less and instead hold frequent events at

varying locations.

“We’ve built relationships with our community,” she said. “We have not

been a church focused on a building, and I think it forces us to be

different. People get involved, and they feel needed because they are

needed here, since there’s no way the staff can handle everything. We are

totally open to what God has and, so far, we have not found any open

doors. We feel that maybe that is not what God wants. Maybe he wants us

to be creative and reach out to the community. But we’re exploring every

option.”

Even if Rock Harbor Church never finds a home, its members say the

magic that has attracted so many people and has kept them coming back has

shown no signs of diminishing.

“Every week, I feel so fulfilled,” said Melanie Whittaker, a Costa

Mesa resident. “We’ve been to other churches, and [my family and I] just

didn’t feel like we were a part of it. Here, there is such a warm

feeling. It’s always special, and they don’t pass the plate like other

churches, so you don’t feel like you have to pay to go to church. The

messages here just speak to you. Everything fits.”

-- Reporter Stefanie Frith also contributed to this article.