The Rock Church, one of the largest churches in Snohomish County, plans to open a campus in Lake Stevens.
It is the first additional campus for the 1,200-member church, which is following a national trend of churches that are opening multiple sites to handle congregations too large for single buildings and to expand into new communities.
“The Lake Stevens campus gives us an opportunity to offer a smaller environment,” Pastor Jeff Knight said. “People who attend there will probably identify more with the culture that campus provides rather than the convenience of location.”
King’s Way Christian School donated the building in Lake Stevens to The Rock Church, Knight said. The church has considered opening new campuses for several years, but the donation of the building kick-started a plan to create a second, smaller congregation this year.
Between 100 and 150 people are expected to attend the new campus, Knight said. Most of those people will likely come from Everett and Lake Stevens, but other church members who live in Monroe, where the existing campus is, might also choose to attend in Lake Stevens if they prefer a smaller group.
The Lake Stevens campus was originally scheduled to open today, but that was delayed because of problems with the building, Knight said.
When it does open, each campus will have its own worship band and campus pastor. Knight will alternate preaching live between the campuses. Congregations at the campus where he is not preaching live will view a DVD of the sermon on a giant screen. Other pastors at the church may also fill in to provide live preaching, Knight said.
“What’s good for one is good for all,” Knight said. “We’re not going with the old model of a mother church with other, smaller churches. These campuses will be equals among peers.”
The Rock Church is one of several Snohomish County churches to expand with multiple campuses. New Life Center in Everett recently opened a campus in Marysville, which is served by its own pastor. Christian Faith Center in South Everett was the second campus of the church of the same name south of Seattle. Pastor Casey Treat commutes between those two churches by helicopter to preach each Sunday.
The Rock Church is smaller than many other churches with multiple campuses, which mostly fall in the “mega-church” category, a church defined by experts as having more than 2,000 regular attendees.
“Three-quarters of Snohomish County is not in church anywhere,” Knight said. “If everybody decided to come to church this Sunday in our county, there is not enough churches to contain all the people. There’s always room for more churches.”
Reporter Krista J. Kapralos: 425-339-3422 or kkapralos@heraldnet.com.
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