Navigating by the Stars
ROCKharbor Church

By RaeAnn Slaybaugh

Lead Pastor Keith Page

Chaos. In mathematical terms, the word means "a pattern or state of order existing within apparent disorder, as in the irregularities of a coastline or a snowflake." And although Webster tells us that chaos is synonymous with "confusion," one could argue that its meaning connotes freedom. Such is the contention of the pastors at ROCKharbor Church in Costa Mesa, Calif., where an unscripted, open-minded approach to ministry makes for a supremely authentic worship experience--one that keeps its young membership tuned in.

According to Lead Pastor Keith Page, as ROCKharbor approached its first service, it was a fun story for the local papers. "[They'd report] 'Hey, there's this new church with wild music or pastors with earrings,'" the 35-year-old Page explains, an angle he admits makes for entertaining reading.

Indeed, the term "Generation X"--the loosely defined though commonly accepted identifier for the group of Americans born in early 1960s to late 1970s--is often used in association with ROCKharbor Church. Based on its worshipper demographic, it isn't hard to see why. Currently, both Page and Worship Pastor Todd Proctor estimate that about 80-percent of the church membership is between 18- and 35-years old. Both pastors also garnered much of their leadership experience through Generation X and youth ministries. Page served at Mariners Church in Irvine, Calif., as the pastor of a ministry to Gen-Xers and held the position of youth pastor for more than a decade. Three years ago, his performance in these capacities convinced church leaders he was ready to plant ROCKharbor. Likewise, Proctor spent more than 10 years leading student ministry before he came to ROCKharbor, seven of those with Dawson McAllister and Shepherd Ministries as a visiting youth worship leader, stopping at 25 conferences and traveling 150 days a year.

One might think Page and Proctor's experiences would have shown them the "golden keys" to ministering to the elusive 18- to 35-year-olds of the world--if such things as "golden keys" existed, that is. Instead, both contend that ministering to the so-called Generation X is more about freedom than formula.

Challenging the label

While a solid definition of the term "Generation X" has never emerged, there is even more confusion among church leaders as it applies to ministry. "Part of the challenge of that name is that a lot of people have come to identify it with more of a style, an approach, actually a segment of the population from 'this age to this age,'" Proctor explains. "Ten years from now, will Gen-X ministry mean a certain kind of feel, an approach? Or will it talk about that age group of students that went way beyond that? It gets kind of confusing."

The solution, for ROCKharbor at least, seems to be to avoid the label altogether. Though Page started a Gen-X ministry at Mariners Church, he points out that ROCKharbor's foundation is far from the same. In fact, Page says he initially chose the term "Gen-X" for his Mariners ministry only because by using it, people would know it was a LifeStage ministry. "[But] we left Gen-X there at Mariners," he says. "Since that day, every person on staff's heart has been to not be a Gen-X or LifeStage church." Instead, when he refers to the population of young people at ROCKharbor, he uses a different name. "By saying 'our generation,' people assume for themselves what that means," Page explains. "We feel like we just want to reach our county for Christ and do it in a way that suits us."

One reason the church has drawn so many younger members is because every staff member is between 25- and 35-years-old and shares their common experiences with what is essentially a group of their peers. "[The age of our staff] is obviously going to reflect in our thinking," Page says. "We wouldn't say, 'We're postmodern thinkers;' we just know we think how we think. We're a church that authentically flows out of its leadership, a passion God's put in our hearts, and it seems to take care of itself who we reach."

Because Page says he has to "live it before he can share it," his sermons are naturally perceived as relevant by a younger group of people, some in college, some out, some married, others beginning families. "I'm a student and I'm on the adventure of faith myself," Page explains. "It's the thing that motivates me to get up. So when I share, people say, 'Wow, Keith isn't talking above us or at us, he's with us.'"

According to Page, the backgrounds of the church's 18- to 35-year-old demographic are "a great mix." Some grew up in Christian families, attended parochial schools and were generally fostered in a church environment. "Usually the great place where people fall away is about 18 or 19," Page explains. "Sometimes it's just hard to integrate our own spirituality in the midst of our home life." Although reaching these people is a challenging feat, Page explains that most never fell away from religion entirely; they just needed something to draw them back in. "They still have some of those really powerful experiences they had as children," he says. Proctor agrees: "We get a lot of people who say, 'We never knew that walking with God could be this intimate and exciting.' [They] are rediscovering a truly personal relationship with Him."

Other churches today minister to this age group with varying degrees of success. So how come, when ROCKharbor does it, it really works? The answer lies in atmosphere, message and open-minded approach to ministry.

Whichever way the wind blows...

When asked about ROCKharbor's five-years plan, both Page and Proctor cheerfully admit to not having one. "Five years?" Proctor asks, laughing. "Wait, I've got to get a pen and write this down. I want to hear about the next five months!" And Page adds, "We haven't got a clue. We know some things we need to do but they're not even structural."

Stacy Scott, director of communications and all-church events, explains how the lack of a "grand scheme" works in the church's favor. "Part of the [appeal] is that we don't have it all figured out," she says. "But that comes out in the realness each Sunday. It's not all about the program."

Proctor adds, "It's not like we have a major blueprint we're following. We still make a lot of mistakes, whether they're technical or otherwise, and they make us think, 'Wow, that was a bad idea!' [But] one of the fun things is that we can not only laugh at each other, people can laugh with us--and at us sometimes."

This is not to suggest that issues are taken lightly at ROCKharbor. Rather, needs are tackled as they arise. For instance, current foreseeable tasks include mobilizing community-building beyond Sunday and finding a new facility since the church has outgrown its current meeting space inside the Costa Mesa Senior Center. One possibility: the Orange County Fairgrounds, a 100-acre property with multiple 30,000-square foot buildings.

Although the need for more space is critical to address, the church's mobility is just fine with Page. In fact, it's perfect. "One exciting thing about our church is that we've used every large building within a 10-mile radius," he says. These range from the aforementioned fairgrounds to 900-seat auditoriums at colleges and a host of other "mystery buildings" in the area. "We realize we want to stay mobile and able to respond to God as he's leading instead of owning property and paying debt," Page explains.

The theory in practice

As Proctor explains, "We want people to think when they walk in the door, 'This is going to be different' and 'God's here.'" So the idea is to create a first impression of friendly, authentic people. In this spirit, a typical Sunday visitor to ROCKharbor steps out of his car and winds his way through a coffee area on the patio, complete with an information booth and live music. As he nears the worship area, a Greeting Team member--identifiable only by a basic black nametag--simply says, "Welcome to ROCKharbor."

"Part of the DNA of our church has been that everyone has a place to serve," Page explains, "and it's not because we're saying, 'We need you,' but because it's fun. We constantly say that Sunday is a front door, but we want to get you involved in the life of the church." This endeavor is based on Proctor's perception that the attitude of today's worshipper has morphed from giver to taker. "People walk through the doors with the mentality of, 'What am I going to get out of this today?'" he explains. This attitude still runs rampant in the majority of churchgoers, Proctor adds, but the idea at ROCKharbor is to get visitors to adopt an entirely different way of thinking. "When you engage people and involve them, they get addicted to it," Proctor explains. "They want to come back because they feel significant."

The worship experience

Once inside the church, it's hard to predict what will happen. The sanctuary setup changes every few months as members of the LOOK Team bring back ideas from Anthropologie, Z Gallerie or even Home Depot for transforming the space.

Sermons are often even less predictable from week to week. In the past, worshippers have been given a lump of modeling clay at the door and asked to sculpt what "angry" looks like as it relates to David's emotions. Their creations were combined by a Claymation^® expert and modeled into a lion, a lamb and a slain dragon, symbolizing their victory over Satan. On another Sunday, members witnessed God as a "cleansing stream, as living water to drink" with the help of murals on the walls created with a spotlight, a fan, a mirror and a large bowl of water. And at another service, the focus happened to be Psalms. Visitors tuned into a VH-1 Behind the Music-style investigation into each Psalm's "story." As Page explains, "Part of the beauty of Psalms is that it's real-life stuff, but if someone were to just pick those up, they might not get that. That's the joy of Scripture--it's mysterious but relevant at the same time."

"The question we always have to ask is, where's the application? Where's the response? What does God want me to do with this?" he explains. "[We need to convey] that this has not just been an experience or a talk, you're supposed to interact now with God on this issue."

Chances are good that the band and its music will never be any more predictable than the sermons. For one thing, Proctor usually writes or revamps most of the music. Otherwise, he says hymns--"some of the most powerful words ever written"--are a big part of worship. Likewise, musicians are as varied as the music they play. On a given week, any random combination of people might be assembled. The talent pool is made up of about 40 rotating musicians ranging from flute players to punk band guitarists partial to Led Zeppelin and Rush. "I hate to use the words 'contemporary' or 'traditional' [in reference to the music] because they've already been defined in so many different ways," Proctor explains. "The core of it is a lot of energy, music that really invites people to be a part of it. But I don't think that if you walked in you could peg our sound because it changes from week to week and sometimes even from morning to night."

For all of its character, both Page and Proctor recognize that ROCKharbor won't suit everyone. For this reason, they say that while the church has a big front door, it also has a decent-size back door. "We celebrate all the other churches in our community and Orange County," Page explains. "We can encourage and recommend lots of other styles of church. Our thing is just helping people plug in somewhere. But I don't think you can outgrow us. I think as we're growing, people are growing with us."

At-A-Glance