ROCKAWAY TWP. Christ Church expects to start holding Sunday services in December at a 1,067-seat temporary sanctuary currently under construction on Green Pond Road, Pastor David Ireland said today.
The temporary sanctuary was authorized by the township as Christ Church awaits final state approval of its full building plan.
Ireland said that approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which is reviewing the churchs request from the state Highlands law limiting development, was imminent and that he expected the mega-church on Green Pond Road would open in either 2011 or 2012.
DEP did not immediately return a phone call today.
Christ Church eventually will accommodate a 2,512-seat sanctuary, a private K-5 school, recreational facilities and other services in Rockaway Township.
Christ Church, which has 5,500 to 5,800 members, according to Ireland, received planning board approval in early 2007 following a contentious process that lasted for more than three years and nearly three dozen public hearings.
Not selling its Montclair church While the church, which opened in 1986 in Montclair, originally planned to sell its 900-seat cathedral there after moving to Rockaway Township, Ireland said today that Christ Church had decided to retain the cathedral and hold weekend services in the two locations.
Were permanently keeping it, Ireland said.
That decision vacillated a bit, but were recognizing a need to keep serving the Montclair community, Ireland.
Ireland said that would mean continuing the single Saturday and four Sunday services in Montclair, along with two on Sunday in Rockaway Township. Instead of addressing all seven personally, Ireland said some services would be videotaped and played for congregations in either location.
Ireland said that 30 to 40 percent of congregants live within 15 miles of Rockaway Township.
The pastor added that additional fundraising would compensate for the loss of anticipated revenue from selling the Montclair cathedral, along with the cost of maintaining the historic facility.
Christ Church launched a three-year, $12 million fundraising drive in 2007, seeking an unspecified amount of funding, for the Rockaway Township project. In 2003, Christ Church unveiled a 3-year, $14 million campaign dubbed Touching Tomorrow Today aimed at paying for the mega-church.
Christ Church acquired the 107-acre, former Agilent Technologies site for $10.25 million in 2005.
Church employees currently work in Rockaway Township. The church held a welcoming service last spring.
The temporary sanctuary will not become part of the permanent sanctuary, Ireland said. Instead, it will be divided and used for various childrens programs.
Rob Jennings can be reached at (973) 428-6667 or robjennings@gannett.com.
Another PR story - spearheaded by Ireland to give the perception of progress. They are in way over their heads on this and it will come crashing down. In the grand scheme of things, a couple of million to build a temporary sanctuary that serves the next 4 years is a joke. Perhaps his motive is to move more square footage off the property tax roll. In which case he will make his money back in those 4 years, even if only 2 people sit there on Sundays to watch the video.
And the lies continue.....
'Ireland said that 30 to 40 percent of congregants live within 15 miles of Rockaway Township.'
Thats over 2000 people. The closest demographic for his "customer base" is probably West Orange, which is over 18 miles away. I am sure most live further east
It would seem to make sense from Ireland's perspective to spend a relatively small sum of money to build the temporary sanctuary to reduce his local tax burden but also as an investment in market research. What better way to test the waters and determine how many would come to the proposed megacomplex than to use the temporary sanctuary as a prototype. I would suspect that the level of attendance will determine whether he really wants to spend a lot more money to build the full-scale version.
I wonder if church tax rates are commensurate with the size of a physical facility or the size of a congregation or a combination thereof.
As an example, can a megachurch owner have a 50 million dollar sanctuary occupying, say 300,000 square feet and yet only having, say, 100 congregants and still be entitled to a full tax exemption? Or, how about if the sanctuary improvements only cost 1000 bucks yet occupied 300,000 square feet. Does that get full tax exemption? I wonder where the corners of the box are. Anyone know?
