BANGOR, Maine — Pastor Kirk Winters was a bundle of nerves, apprehensively switching his gaze from the clock to the entrance of the newly renovated Rock Church just before a 4 p.m. Christmas Eve service Monday.
“We probably won’t have as good a crowd because we’re trying something different and it’s earlier than we usually do it, but we’ll see,” said the 44-year-old Winters, father of four and the founder of the nondenominational Rock Church, which began in Portland in 1999 and expanded to Bangor in 2005.
Just a few minutes later, a nearly solid stream of people started filling up the rows of black, green and blue chairs arranged in front of a large stage.
As the timer superimposed on each of the two large, on-screen screens showing “A Charlie Brown Christmas” counted down the minutes and seconds left before the start of two consecutive Christmas Eve services, empty seats became very scarce.
By the time Winters walked onto the stage to welcome everyone, it was standing room only at the church at the intersection of Finson Road and Ohio Street.
“It’s such an extreme pleasure for us to have you all here for Christmas Eve service at our new church,” Winters said with a broad smile. “We didn’t know if anyone would come.”
About 350 church members and guests alike came to celebrate Christ’s birth in addition to the rebirth of their place of worship.
“It was wonderful to see everyone together,” said longtime Rock Church member and volunteer Jan Doucette, who previously attended and volunteered at the Rock Church in Brewer before it shut down last summer. “It’s bringing both our families together. It’s not Brewer or Bangor. It’s the Rock Church all in one.”
The City of Brewer’s code enforcement officer refused to approve an expansion permit application by Brewer’s Rock Church last January due to city zoning laws. That forced the Brewer congregation to move into the original Bangor location, which had a maximum seating capacity of 150.
“It was unfortunate the way things turned out, but it was a blessing in disguise,” said Doucette, an Old Town resident and site manager for Penquis Child Development. “It was hard to leave what we’d created as a home for three years in Brewer for a lot of us, but to be able to come into one building and connect or reconnect with everybody, that’s a great thing.”
Monday night there were slightly more than 350 seats — of various colors and styles.
“These chairs are borrowed from Abundant Life Church,” Winters said of a particular set. “These green ones are old, original chairs, and the black ones came over from Brewer. We had to mix and match them. It’s not the Taj Mahal.”
The $613,000 church expansion project — which added another 6,000 square feet to the previously existing 4,800-square-foot church space — was essentially finished in 2½ months, allowing church services to start two Sundays ago.
The 150-seat building is now being used to hold Sunday school services for children in fifth grade or younger.
“I love having my people all together in one place,” said Marion Syversen, a self-described “quirky member” and volunteer who was greeting people and handing out service programs.
“I’m a quirky girl who sometimes drops an F-bomb now and again, and that doesn’t always fit in every place, but this seems to be the best of all worlds for me,” she said. “I was a girl who did a lot of drugs, was messed up, and got found. I love the attitude here, and It feels really cozy and comfortable having more people I know all here together.”
To accommodate the 600-member congregation, Winters was holding four services — one Saturday night and three Sunday morning. Now he’ll have just two on Sunday mornings.
“For the last almost year or so we’ve been together under one roof, it’s been hard to be able to come in and get a seat,” Doucette said. “It was sad to see it [Brewer location] go, but it was also for a short time and this is a rebirth for us in this one big church to help us all be one big family again.”
Glad to see that God is doing great things in Eastern Me.
When a leader demonstrates compassion towards others, there is no need to worry about filling seats. I wish them all the best and God’s blessings. A building is a shell. Don’t forget that the church is made up of God’s people and those that want to know Him.
$$$ ka-ching $$$ I am old school and belong to a traditional church where an offering is passed around and the minister leads a normal life. No corporate jets, TV and media coverage, no preying on people during terrible times, giving them false hope and a place to belong. I remember Ron Durham, Pastor of Abundant Life Church on Broadway. He was apprehended in Georgia on vacation and arrested for extortion of church (non-profit) funds. He did some time I assume and is back at it.
http://www.rondurham.org/
I come from a long line of Ministers, Pastors and Domines and it is difficult for me to see people worship with big business. So many have been exposed. Jim Baker comes to mind. Robert Schuller. Robert orchestrated the construction of the Crystal Cathedral at a cost of 18 Million dollars. Where did that money come from? It came from the offerings and tithing and from people that could ill afford anything.
It’s big business. Nothing more, Once again, $$$ ka-ching $$$
Too many churches are pompous money makers but this one appears to be for real, what churches should be.
I wonder how much the church paid for the rights to show the Charlie Brown movie…
lol i’m assuming they didn’t have to pay…but as anyone else who went to NESCUM knows…it should be a lot
bring your baby to the rock church
This is awesome, Congrats Rock Church!
I wonder if they teach hate by not loving all people and their unions , like same sex couples, like before. I will not go to a church that does not love all people as God does.
God loves you more than you love yourself or your present partner. God does not want us to use people for our own dysfunctional behavior. The acceptance of homosexual activity will be the downfall of man. I will pray for you ( even though it will make you angry) I will pray for healing, that you turn from an active homosexual relationship. May you find peace and joy this coming new year and freedom from the bondage of same sex attraction.
That is quite sanctimonious of you. Being gay and loving a person, regardless of gender, is not dysfunctional and will not be the downfall of man …. or woman. I pray for your healing, as I see you are in great need of it. God is love.
No it is not sanctimonious of me, I tell you all this because i am thinking about the salvation of your soul. You have decided to worship a god in your image and likeness. Thank you for your prayers as I will being praying for you too.
Is that the case with this church?
Gopher, yes it is indeed.
While I wish this church well, people must be forewarned that many of the people who attend this church have a tendency to hop from church to church. They at first love the new church home they have discovered, but soon are critical of the way things are run or the pastor. The Rock Church is the new, trendy church for the confused, egoistical, so called evangelical christian to attend. In no time they’ll be disillusion by this church and pastor becasue their faith is built on sand.
My issue had to with the pastor commenting on one’s giving and a lack of compassion for his flock.
Most of these made up christian church have nothing to do with Jesus’ command “love you neighbor as yourself’. They are churches who preach the gospel of health and wealth and providing the “pastor” with a comfortable lifestyle.
Do you have any evidence that’s the situation with this church?
He has made comments to people about the level of their giving going down. That is a major red flag. One’s giving is between them and God and no one else.
tithing is a common sermon in most of the “series” teaching they do. They preach watered down philosophical feel-good sermons, NOT teaching from the Bible. He lives in Levant, not Glenburn, and owns a 100 acre half million dollar “farm” with horses the church tithes pay for, and a stay at home lifestyle for his wife and kids. He works on Sundays only, and the tithes pay for a FAMILY of pastors to run a “church” that does nothing but open the doors on sunday for another re-run series on perpetual rotation. DONT EVER expect this family of pastors to step up and work any event either, make meals (except for other leaders), or visit shut-ins, sick, etc.. the church is a money scam to build the families real estate holdings,,, and don’t expect to hear anything about repentence or holiness when the “mature” leaders still think an f-bomb in the presence of God is “quirky” and cute and perfectly acceptable in a house of worship. This church is full of false converts living in the flesh with no concept their “church” is preaching doctrines of devils… beware..
yes, he is wealthy off the back of his cult followers
Sir, church hopping happens everywhere. Some people will drift from church to church just because they don’t like a particular sermon, or even, a couple of words that the Pastor might say. I once saw an enitre family come to and leave my church because the plants on the stage were of a color that they din’t think was proper to be in a church. I have seen it all my life. This church will be no different. Not until the end of times, and the Lord returns will we see the end of church hopping.