CK Christian Church dedicated tomorrow

The bark in the prayer garden is still being spread and a few plants have yet to leave their pots, but the main project is done.

After five years of planning, permitting, and building Central Kitsap Christian Church has room to grow.

Current and former members will dedicate the new worship center with a potluck at 12:30 p.m., and a public dedication scheduled for 3 p.m., Sunday, June 22. The church is located at 6735 Stampede Blvd, south of Olympic High School.

“The process has really been quite a deal,” said Pastor Larry Rodgers.

But it’s a done one.

The new building, located adjacent to the existing church, has 7,100 square feet of usable space including a kitchen, large foyer area and sanctuary.

A group of gardeners in the congregation planted the prayer garden that sits between the two buildings.

“We’re still doing bits and pieces,” Rodgers said Wednesday. There’s the matter of getting matching chairs for the sanctuary, finishing the prayer garden and getting a new sound system and projection system.

“In the old building we simply didn’t have the space,” he said.

The old building, which was constructed in 1986, will continue to have classrooms there. The old sanctuary will be used for different social functions, Rodgers said.

It is just the tip of the construction project iceberg, the Central Kitsap Christian Church has planned. In five to eight years they hope to break ground on a 21,000 square-foot building.

With all these plans for expansion and growth, Rodgers wants his congregation to retain its small feel.

“We don’t want to become a congregation that is simply a place to go and hide,” he said.

“We want people to feel like they can be involved in Central Kitsap Christian Church and pursue their ministries.”

This is Rodgers’ 26th year at the church. He and his family came to the congregation in 1977, just five years after the church opened.

The nondenominational church got its start at a small chapel on Central Valley Road.

The church purchased the land for its current location in 1980 in hopes it could minister to the high school students. The congregation’s numbers have grown to about 125 members. Regular worship services start at 10:30 a.m and Sunday School starts at 9:30 a.m.

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