By Rob Jennings, Daily Record

The Christ Church building plan controversy is posing a thorny dilemma for ministers, rabbis and other religious leaders in the Rockaway Township area.

David Ireland, pastor of the 5,000-member, Montclair-based church, has openly courted their support for his proposed mega-church on Green Pond Road -- a 107-acre campus that would feature a 2,512-seat sanctuary and private K-5 school.

Any religious leader who endorses Christ Church, though, risks alienating congregants opposed to a building plan that has generated widespread local opposition.

Moreover, some who ordinarily might be inclined to champion religious freedom are wary of commenting on planning board proceedings and issues, such as traffic and environmental impact, falling outside of that domain.

Rabbi Asher Herson of the Chabad Center in Rockaway Township said he has wrestled with the matter, which has been the subject of more than a year of planning board hearings.

Herson has met with Ireland. He said he respects him. He also knows that his 300-member congregation includes people who are unhappy with Christ Church's building plan.

Herson -- who publicly repudiated one person last year for launching an Internet diatribe against Christ Church's evangelical Christian faith -- described himself as "decidedly undecided" on whether the church's proposal should be approved.

"I am supportive … of any group that is there to elevate mankind's moral values. On the other hand, my neighbors and friends and others in the area are faced with a dilemma," said Herson, who lives in Rockaway Township.

The Daily Record contacted 14 houses of worship in the Rockaway Township area and asked for their opinions on the Christ Church building plan.

Two ministers, a Presbyterian and Baptist, said they supported it. The leaders of two synagogues, including Herson, spoke favorably of Christ Church but did not take a position.

The leader of a much-smaller evangelical Christian church on Green Pond Road indicated he would welcome Christ Church but said he didn't know enough about the building plan to express an opinion.

Three other churches also discussed the matter to some extent but did not take a position.

"I want to stay completely neutral. It's up to the citizens, not me," said Msgr. Richard A. Rusconi of St. Bernard Parish in Rockaway Township.

Two churches declined comment. Calls to four other churches were not returned.

Christ Church spokesman Marc Weinstein said the planning board, which will hold an 11th public hearing Monday night, should consider evaluations from religious leaders.

"We would think the planning board would welcome their input because they play an integral role in the affairs of the community," Weinstein said.

Some building plan opponents countered that local churches should steer clear of a debate they insist has nothing to do with religion.

"Churches should just take a neutral viewpoint," said Charles Mueller, a township resident.

Mueller slammed the First Presbyterian Church in Rockaway, which last Tuesday became the first local religious institution to publicly endorse Christ Church and its plans to move to the township.

"You don't live in our town," Mueller said of the church's interim pastor, Richard Sanner, who lives in Mount Olive and gave several interviews in support of the church.

"You only recently came to our area. Your church isn't even in our town. Who are you to be making all this noise about the church coming in here," Mueller said.

The Rev. John Hansen -- whose church, Holy Trinity Lutheran, is located on Green Pond Road about three miles from the proposed mega-church site -- also criticized Sanner's advocacy.

"It surprised me when I read that (from) someone who's only been there three months," Hansen said, referring to Sanner's brief stint as interim pastor.

Hansen, who lives in Rockaway Township, said his 450-member church would not take a position on the Christ Church plan. He noted that some congregants might end up grappling with traffic en route to his church's Sunday services if Christ Church builds nearby.

"More than enough has been said on both sides. Clergy, I don't think, should be in a position for or against anything but rather be a resource for our people," Hansen said.

"I'm surprised he would say that," responded Sanner, "because Lutheran churches take stands on many issues."

Sanner said the decision to endorse Christ Church was made by First Presbyterian's 18-member governing session.

"Technically, I did not speak out. The session wrote the letter. I signed it as moderator of the session," Sanner said.

Sanner said the Christ Church controversy, which has included charges and counter-charges on sensitive matters such as racism and religious prejudice, was too significant to ignore.

Christ Church is mostly black. Rockaway Township is mostly white -- a dichotomy some building plan opponents charge has been unfairly exploited by church supporters.

"We believe churches should be more involved in community justice issues," Sanner said. "We say there's no peace without justice."

Sanner was no longer standing alone by last Thursday afternoon, when Rev. John Hackworth of the First Baptist Church in Rockaway Township also endorsed Christ Church.

"Of course the church would be a plus to the community," said Hackworth, a 20-year pastor who lives in Rockaway Township.

Hackworth acknowledged that his 250-member church, located on Mount Pleasant Avenue, is far from where building plan opponents charge the mega-church would tie up traffic.

"What a church contributes to a community is a positive. We could probably use more churches," said Hackworth, who has attended some planning board hearings and met with Ireland.

The Green Pond Bible Chapel, located on Green Pond Road about five miles from the proposed building site, follows the same evangelical, non-denominational model as Christ Church.

That's about where the comparison ends. The bible chapel, which began in 1967 as a prayer group, has about 300 members. It does not boast a radio or television ministry.

While most of Christ Church's members do not live in Morris County, the bible chapel draws mostly from surrounding communities.

The pastor, Allan Maitha of West Milford, said he wasn't worried that Christ Church building nearby would undermine his ministry.

"The more, the merrier," he said.

He said he didn't know enough about the mega-church plan to endorse it, though he has spoken with Ireland.

"I'm really out of the loop on it," Maitha said.

Maitha said that discomfort toward Christ Church might be attributable to a relative scarcity of mega-churches in the Northeast.

"It's a fear of what we haven't experienced before and don't know," Maitha said.

The pastor of St. John's Episcopal Church in Dover, Margaret Gat, used to live in Montclair. Prior to being ordained, Gat attended a Baptist church that previously used the 900-seat cathedral occupied by Christ Church since 1994.

"I have always been impressed with the development of the church in Montclair," said Gat, though she has never met Ireland and takes no position on the building plan.

Approximately 10 to 15 percent of her 200 congregants come from the Rockaways. The Christ Church matter, she said, hasn't been raised for discussion.

"They haven't said anything about it," Gat said.

Rabbi Leslie Lipson of the White Meadow Temple in Rockaway Township also hasn't met with Ireland.

"We played phone tag for a while and that was the end of it," Lipson said.

Unlike at Gat's church, Christ Church has been a topic of discussion among temple members, he said.

"Everyone's aware of it," Lipson said.

Lipson said he had no problem with Christ Church building in the township. He offered some qualified support.

"If supports means, if they come here, would I be a nice neighbor -- yes," Lipson said.

A secretary at the United Methodist Church of the Rockaways said it has a new pastor who is not versed on the issue. St. Clement Pope and Martyr Church in Rockaway Township declined comment.

Calls to Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Rockaway, St. Cecelia Roman Catholic Church in Rockaway, the Church of the Savior in Denville and St. Simon the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Rockaway Township were not returned.

Herson, of the Chabad Center, said avoiding comment on the heated subject might be the wisest course of action -- and not just for religious leaders.

Herson paraphrased a saying from the Talmud -- that a person gets great rewards for saying great things, but even greater rewards for "not saying things about something he knows nothing about."