Mayor declares ‘Church On The Rock Weekend’
TEXARKANA, Texas – To convert a space formerly occupied by a major department store into a church is a major undertaking, one that takes time, people, resources and help from on high, as the pastors of Church on the Rock would credit.
“This dream began five years ago,” said Pastor John Miller. “The Lord was blessing us with a larger congregation, but it became clear we would need more room. At first, we looked at expanding our old location on Mall Drive. But it did not take long to realize that was not feasible. So…… we started looking for a new place. Then, Gander Mountain became available and it was the only building that was big enough.”
As the project came together, Miller says God ensured the church had the resources when they needed them.
“Creative thought processes were key and we had the talents of Jason Roy, of Altech, as well as Joe Crews to provided architecture expertise,” he said.
“And of course, this took lots of money. The Lord blessed us there as well. In fact, during COVID, our resources increased.”
Crews echoed Miller on the teamwork involved in making this project happen.
“Good people, a good contractor, all doing what it took to meet our budget,” he said. “We solved problems creatively. It helps we had talented members of our church lending their expertise with great design ideas, skilled labor to help build various required items and more.”
Crews says that starting with an existing building shell in some ways made things easier.
“The biggest obstacle was adapting a church to a former large retail space,” he said. “Once that was figured out, the main adaptation was the removal of only one column. We just had a great interior design team.”
According to Miller, between 2,500 and 3,000 people call Church on the Rock their church home.
“The people who come here do it because they experience the presence of the Lord,” he said. “Our church is accepting of people. We have a contemporary feel and we look to the Bible as God’s word. We are accepting of all people, regardless of race or place on the socioeconomic scale.”
For visitors to Church on the Rock on Saturday, Miller welcomed them.
“If God has called you to be part of another church, support them, they need you,” he said. “But if you are visiting here, we hope you experience the love and warmth of God from the people here.”
Church on the Rock’s grand opening continues in its Sunday services.
(Church on the Rock is located at 2301 University Ave., Texarkana, Texas. Visit them on Facebook or http:// www.ChurchOnTheRock.org)