Christ Church opens Rockaway campus


Monday, February 25, 2008

By TANYA DROBNESS
of The Montclair Times

A Montclair nondenominational church with a membership of nearly 6,000 the largest congregation in the township will open its Rockaway site for worship services.

The Rockaway Township Planning Board ruled earlier this month that Christ Church can begin holding services at a 1,000-capacity temporary site on the Morris County campus on Green Pond Pond, which was the former home of Agilent Technologies.

The services will start at the end of August 2008 and continue until the church completes a massive sanctuary in about two years that will hold 2,500 seats, said the churchs senior pastor, the Rev. David Ireland.

The church began its search for an additional site seven years ago because its 900-seat sanctuary in Montclair was too small for a congregation growing by leaps and bounds, Ireland said.

The church in Montclair will continue to hold its five services throughout the weekend, one on Saturday evening and four on Sundays, which often leads to massive traffic and parking conditions around Church Street.

When Christ Church bought the cathedral from a Baptist church in 1994, there was a much smaller membership of 500.

The congregation, which last year was reported to have 5,000 members, has since drawn about another 1,000 worshippers, representing 40 different nationalities, Ireland said.

The pastor attributes the churchs growth to an organizational structure that helps take care of people, referring to the churchs administration; relevant teachings in parenting, money management, work ethics and how to build spiritual living, along with inspiring and moving services.

The new facility is located 21 miles west from the Montclair cathedral, and will be a central point for the congregations followers, with 20 percent of them residing in Morris County. Most congregants come from throughout Essex, Bergen and Middlesex counties, as well as from New York and Pennsylvania.

We looked for six years to find a facility within a 30-minute radius of Montclair, Ireland said. It was very central.

He noted that his congregation agreed it was a move in the right direction. They were not the challenge, the pastor said. They recognized the need for space and so they welcomed it.

In Rockaway, there will be two Sunday services at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., and live worship will take place in both locations along with Sunday school. Some services in Montclair and Rockaway will be transmitted via satellite to the other location, Ireland said.

In March 2007, the church received approval to build its campus from Rockaway Township after three years of opposition from local residents who expressed environmental and traffic concerns.

That fight led to the church filing a federal religious discrimination lawsuit against the township, claiming it had violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

We had to work through every hurdle, Ireland said.

We dropped the lawsuit but succeeded with the application [to build], Ireland said. They had no other alternatives. Our application met all the conditions that the location was suitable for a church.

Contact Tanya Drobness at drobness@montclairtimes.com.