Fitz Hayles drives from Linden each week to attend services at Christ Church. If Montclair’s largest church gets its wish to move to Rockaway, he will keep driving.
Hayles said that Christ Church is more than just church on Sunday but is also a full-service community center where his teenage daughter can hang out and also be surrounded by a “spirit of excellence.”
“Here at Christ Church, it invites [youth] to bring out the best that’s in them and not to settle for mediocrity,” Hayles said. “This is a day-to-day place that you can call home.”
Hayles exemplifies Christ Church’s determined efforts to relocate to a 101-acre site in Rockaway Township in Morris County, despite an alleged “campaign against the church.”
Church officials recently unveiled a scaled-down proposal that requires fewer variances from the Rockaway Planning Board. Representatives of the 5,000-member church have been meeting with the Rockaway Planning Board since 2003. In the interim, the Rockaway Township Council passed a zoning ordinance this past March that prohibited the construction of a building 1,500 feet within a public water supply, which the church addressed in its proposal.
In April, the church responded to the ordinance by filing a federal lawsuit alleging that Rockaway violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The law was created to categorize religious institutions as beneficial uses and protect them being arbitrarily blocked by municipalities. This week, the church filed an amendment to its lawsuit, stating that Rockaway continues to discriminate against the church.
Christ Church was founded in 1986 and has steadily grown since. In 1994, the church relocated to an 800-seat cathedral on Church Street in Montclair. During the past several years, the church has held five consecutive services each Sunday due to the building’s inability to accommodate all the congregants at the same time.
Church officials searched for seven years before they found the Rockaway site, which was formerly occupied by Agilent Technologies.
In July 2003, the church submitted to the Rockaway Planning Board an application for site plan and conditional use approval of a 400,000-square-foot facility.
The church then reduced its square footage by approximately 25 percent to comply with the state Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act that was passed in 2003.
As the hearings proceeded, Rockaway residents publicly opposed the project. Church officials have claimed that Rockaway officials “have changed the rules midstream,” specifically citing the changes in the environmental stan-dards. In its lawsuit, Christ Church also claims that the township never explained how the church could fully satisfy the environmental standards.
Last week, church officials submitted new plans that call for a 263,000-square-foot complex instead of the previous design of a 302,000-square-foot facility, said church spokesman Marc Weinstein.
Additionally, a parking deck and parking lot were removed from the plans, and an underground parking garage was reduced from 277 to 240 spaces. A 28-classroom elementary school planned for the complex will now accommodate 350 students instead of 500. The newest plan retains the 2,512-seat sanctuary, but it will now sit back 435 feet from Green Pond Road instead of the 310 feet originally proposed.
As hearings for the project have continued, the Rev. David Ireland has maintained that he wants to work with Rockaway Township and is committed to moving there. However, Weinstein explained, the church has also made it clear that its rights have been impeded by the township.
“The plans were revised because the church felt it was necessary to comply with the township’s zoning ordinance,” Weinstein said. “However, the church filed the lawsuit against the town because it allegedly violated federal and state constitutional land use laws.”
Behind all the talk of size and square footage, Christ Church as it exists now was built and is sustained by people who have put the church at the center of their lives. These church members come from all over New Jersey and lead different lives as single people, married couples or young professionals, but all agreed that Christ Church is more than just going to religious services on Sunday.
With a gamut of social programs, including support groups, legal clinics, summer camps, singles groups, elementary school classes and day care, Christ Church endeavors to be a full-service community center.
These options are important for Joshua Tolentino of Montclair.
“You need to know what to do in every situation,” Tolentino said. “Traditionally, we find that churches help the homeless. Why shouldn’t we also help the downtrodden find legal advice”
Cindy Machado travels from Kinnelon to attend services and programs at Christ Church. As a newcomer to the area, Machado said that she wanted to find a place where many of her needs could be met. Machado considers the leadership training she has taken at the church to have helped her as an executive for Mary Kay Cosmetics.
“It helps me to lead my people better,” Machado said.
Russell Jones, a Rockaway resident, is a motivational speaker by profession and has also acted as a spokesman for the church’s move to his hometown. Jones noted that Christ Church is already serving a function that many community organizations are trying to duplicate. Jones emphasized that the church is not merely attempting to be “big,” but to interact with and uplift an entire community.
“It’s not just that they got big,” Jones said. “It’s people going out into the community. It’s more than just joining our church. It’s to flow out into the community.”
The success of Christ Church may be apparent in the crowds of people who gather inside the church between services. It may be seen in the people who park at the Montclair Art Museum and then ride in chartered vans to attend Wednesday night and Sunday services.
The church’s success may lead to its failure in its bid to relocate. Some Rockaway residents fear that Christ Church’s congregation will clog local roadways and hamper residents’ quality of life.
Lisa Salberg, who has organized with other residents against Christ Church’s goal of establishing a facility in Rockaway, said the church’s revised plans will not alleviate the pressure of a large facility that would have constant activities.
“We still oppose the plans completely,” Salberg said. “I find that absolutely hideous that a church would bully a town with a lawsuit.”
Christ Church’s engineer for the project will continue to testify at a Rockaway Township Planning Board meeting scheduled for Monday, Aug. 15
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They probably shoud have interviewed someone else instead of Fitz Hayles from Linden
1) According to mapquest it is only 12 minutes further to Rockaway
2) Fitz has the same last name as CC's Chief Operating Officer rupert A. Hayles, Jr (no idea if they are realted, but it is a coincidence)
While it's nice to have "my needs met" & to "reach out to the community" ... it is also important for a church to consider the 'impact' of what it does to a community... and in my opinion cc does not seem to be taking that into consideration.
Yes, it seems cc doesn't have any regard for RT. They want to reach out to what? Do they honestly believe that RT will want cc "to interact with and uplift an entire community." when they will make a shambles of our town? It is apparent that cc doesn't really care if RT is part of their interaction. They want to "flow out into the community.” Obviously they will when they try to get around town with only one road that will get them to where they are going and it will be jammed and the scene of many accidents.
What a joke. Did anyone really do a study on traffic? Did anyone really do a study on the harm cc will do to our environment, to the residential area around 140 GPR? Does anyone from cc really care what happens in RT?
"The newest plan retains the 2,512-seat sanctuary", there's the biggest problem. Scaling back and still not reducing the numbers. ireland won't even give growth figures. He knows what RT is fighting for. He makes it seem like he's doing everything RT wants, but the biggest problem he doesn't address. TOO MANY PEOPLE on a winding one lane road in a residential area.
Come on ireland. If you're all about truth and people, why don't you try being honest with yourself and RT. If your home was here, would you want cc here, taking in all the circumstances? I don't think so! Actually, I know so. Why didn't YOU move to RT?
Congregants described as "Sheeple", and we are told that Ireland's motivation is to destroy RT. It sure doesn't seem that it's only size and scope of the project that bothers people, does it?
Thinker said, "It is apparent that cc doesn't really care if RT is part of their interaction.". Karen, you don't believe this shows that Thinker is of the opinion that Ireland is ill willed?
"It is apparent that cc doesn't really care if RT is part of their interaction.". Karen, you don't believe this shows that Thinker is of the opinion that Ireland is ill willed? That statement is a far cry from "Ireland's motivation is to destroy RT". Which is it?
Yes, I do believe ireland is ill willed. Why won't he answer the question about growth? Lawsuit, lies, not being prepared for questioning, calling RT racists, is this all not being ill willed?
Please stop twisting everything around so YOU can try to rile people up. You, too, are ill willed.
"...It is apparent that cc doesn't really care..."
It is apparent: "it appears to me" - aka an opinion, stated right there as an opinion, Ted. Can't argue that it's not.
Doesn't really care: means he-as-Christ-Church doesn't care--not that congesting and changing the nature of the GPR area is his motivation. I'm sure he'd prefer not to...but I believe if that's how it has to be, then he-as-Christ-Church doesn't really care, because it's for their greater good (his congregants' not ours). And in his eyes, that supercedes any other concerns.
I believe money and growing as big a following as possible is his motivation. I believe he thinks the end justifies the means: more congregants, more attendees, more tithing, more people being saved at whatever cost--to our community.
I believe not so much that Ireland is ill-willed but that he-as-Christ-Church, is selfish and thinks of his church first and other people who are affected are somewhat an afterthought (except for the possibility that we might turn into congregants ourselves...which is he knows is not very likely since he-as-Christ-Church is not making many friends in our area, so we're probably a lost cause from that perspective.)
Who's nit picking now Karen? You can argue for the sake of argument but we all understand what he (she) ment.
BTW why do you feel the need to defend Thinker, Lisa, et all? They made the comments let them defend themselves. Isn't it better if thy explain thmselves, rather than deal with your opinion of what was said?
My opinion is that CC doesn't care about Rockaway Township or it's residents. For someone that would like to share with the community he sure has a strange way to show it. What ever happened to discussion, deal with a situation. Is SUING always the answer?
That is the problem here & in the US, The Rev feels he is not being treated fairly, so he SUES.... That seems to be the answer to all......... What has happened? What has happened to talk, communication, problem solving, first?
But, a church suing their way into a town, (where a majority of residents oppose) would in the end really want to be here. The answer: MEGA DREAM. Although the dream belongs to the REV only, he doesn't need to force it upon us (me).
What is the REV showing his young ministries? - Can't get what you want?, so SUE!!!!
I believe CC tried to open discussion many times. There were consessions, size reductions and ultimately adherence to new rules that were changed "midtream".
Each time the PB and public displayed opposition. What did you expect?
The lawsuit isn't about whether or not CC complies with the rules, its about how they've been treated and how they're being treated now that they do comply.
