Church’s long hunt for home finally over

They were not 40 years in the desert, but the congregation of Rock

Harbor Church nevertheless has been on a lengthy journey to find a

home.

It’s a journey that is finally over.

After seven years of searching for a permanent place to hold

services, members of the nondenominational church -- founded as an

offshoot of Mariners Church in Irvine -- settled in last weekend in a

building near John Wayne Airport.

The church is leasing the 35,000-square-foot former warehouse and

spent $1.9 million, not to mention plenty of volunteer labor,

renovating it.

Rock Harbor’s quick rise to prominence -- nearly 3,000 people

attend services weekly -- has been well-documented.

Services include contemporary music, and pastor outreach is

directed toward a younger demographic, though there’s a wide range of

ages among its members. Members describe the church as “warm,”

“special” and “full of life.”

They now also can describe it as “stable” and “grounded,” though

the church’s continued success seems incumbent on church leaders

retaining some of their less formal, less regimented style.

“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.”

That type of leadership, which has played such a key role in the

church’s growth, also helped it through its roughest time in 2001,

when founding pastor Keith Page admitted to an extra-marital affair

with a female church member. Page’s trademarked edgy look was

synonymous with the church, but a collective will to carry on brought

church members through their darkest hour. Now, their hours are

bright, filled with music and with worship. They are able to continue

their outreach and volunteering in the Newport-Mesa community and

beyond. Newport-Mesa is blessed to have them.