New site set to house choir

Deirdre Newman

If Rock Harbor Church had a theme song, it would be “Don’t Fence Me

In.”

The music-loving congregation is holding its inaugural services

this weekend in its new facility on Fischer Avenue, but church

members don’t want their first permanent site to limit their outreach

to the community.

“If anything scares us, it’s the idea of being contained and being

boxed in as a church,” lead pastor Todd Proctor said. “We’re looking

at this building being more of a launching pad for our ministry than

a place where we hold people in.”

The new building was a beehive of activity Friday as members and

construction workers scurried around preparing the place for its

opening service tonight. One church member anointed the doors to the

sanctuary, which will hold about 1,000 people.

Rock Harbor members have been gypsies since the nondenominational

church was founded seven years ago as an offshoot of Mariners Church

in Irvine. Leaders conducted services, with the accompaniment of a

contemporary worship band, at the Costa Mesa Senior Center since 1997

and at Vineyard Newport since 2003. Average weekly attendance at the

church services are about 2,800 spread among a service on Saturday

night and three on Sundays, communications director Jen Mulroney

said.

The City Council in January gave its blessing to the church’s use

of an industrial building at 345 Fischer Ave. The church is leasing

the 35,000-square-foot, former warehouse and spent $1.9 million

renovating it. It has received temporary occupancy permits for this

weekend’s services. Proctor anticipated getting the final permits in

the next week.

The fundraising and a large portion of the construction effort

were achieved by church members -- praying, donating money and

rolling up their sleeves and pitching in with the remodel, Mulroney

said. Some of the results of that work are the office cubicles,

cabinets and shelves now in the new building.

“We’ve had hundreds of volunteers working furiously to get us

across the finish line, and we’re so thankful we can meet here this

weekend,” Proctor said. “Our volunteer efforts will resume over the

next two days to finish.”

In typical Rock Harbor fashion, the sanctuary does not have pews

nailed into the floor. Instead, chairs will be moved in and out of

the nearly 7,000-square-foot worship area depending on the need,

Mulroney said.

“We want to be available to move and respond in whatever way we

feel led by God,” Mulroney said. “We’re trying not to be permanent

but still have a permanent place.”

A multipurpose room is to the side of the sanctuary and will be

used as a theater and for overflow seating during crowded services.

The ceiling of the lobby will be adorned with a mural. The lobby will

also contain a memorial to the church’s volunteers, including Doug

Root, a founding elder of the church and part of the team that

searched for a permanent building. Root passed away in July.

The hall connecting the sanctuary with the offices will become an

art gallery, Mulroney said. The new facility is also kid-friendly,

with nine children’s classrooms decorated in whimsical, colorful

designs.

The entire fundraising project for the building also included

$970,000 for replenishing the church’s fund for future facilities and

$370,000 to donate to churches and church-related organizations

around the world, which also have building needs.

“We feel called to give 11% of what’s given to us,” Mulroney said.

“I feel like if we’re getting blessed, the least we can do is give

some of it away.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers government. She may be reached at (714)

966-4623 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.