ADDRESS: 7 Braeburn Ave. Three additional Rock Churches are located in Bangor, Brewer and Winter Harbor.

DENOMINATION/AFFILIATION: Non-denominational Christian

HISTORY: The Rock Church began in 1998 as a small Bible study held in a home with six adults and eight children. Over the next few years, the church met in hotel conference rooms, a warehouse and other church buildings throughout Greater Portland. The Portland area church has been meeting in its current location since 2002.

In 2005, The Rock launched a second church in Bangor, followed by additional churches in Winter Harbor and Brewer. With the launch of the church in Bangor, then-Associate Pastor Eric Samuelson became the senior pastor of The Rock Church of Greater Portland.

Samuelson is a graduate of Gordon College. Samuelson, his wife Kim, and their family have faithfully served in Portland since the fall of 2002. Samuelson also serves our country as an F-15 pilot in the Air National Guard.

Since its inception in 1998, the heart of The Rock Church beats to serve its community. It has been actively involved in regular meal service at the Wayside Soup Kitchen, outreach events at Christmas and Easter, and even a 757 plane pull to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The church has also been delighted to offer Honor Our Heroes. This event is our way of saying thank you to military personnel and first responders for their service. The Rock partnered with the city of South Portland and the Portland Sea Dogs to offer games, food, fun, and even a foam pit to more than 800 community members, military personnel, first responders and their families — for free. Members of the church continue to thank our first responders with annual cookouts at fire and police stations in the area.

The Rock Church of Greater Portland believes that every person matters to God. To that end, the church undertook a major fundraising project in the summer of 2009 to update the facility to make it handicapped-accessible. Members of the church responded with enthusiastic generosity and in only a few months funding and construction were complete on a new elevator entrance to the building. Now it is truly a church for everyone.

Perhaps the greatest compliment to the church came from a recent guest. While this person admits he had been “away from church for a long time,” his nervous feeling about being in a church again melted away at the door. When he first experienced this contemporary church community, he said, “I felt love here.”

The music is energizing, the message is relevant and the people are inviting.

WORSHIP SERVICES: The Rock Church is growing so quickly it now offers two services, both with fun-filled children’s programs. Come as you are at 9 a.m. or 10:45 a.m. Sundays.

CONTACT: Telephone 772-7797; on the Web at www.rockmaine.com.