A place to worship and hear rock music

Lindsay Sandham

It’s dark -- illuminated only by dim pool table lights, some

decorative neon and a 2,000-gallon shark tank. Disco balls spin

around as the lead singer of a rock band belts out inspirational

lyrics. People in the audience stand holding their hands in the air

and singing along.

Sounds like a crazy weekend night out, but in fact it’s Sunday

morning at the Shark Club in Costa Mesa, where members of the Rock

Harbor Church come to worship in an unconventional setting.

With two Shark Club services a week -- one at 11:15 a.m. and one

at 7:30 p.m. -- the nondenominational church now holds six services

total, all with the same purpose and message.

Shark Club Pastor Mark Howerton said they started holding the

additional services a couple of months ago because it’s a creative

way to free up seats for the ever-growing congregation in the church

building and it has the ability to attract people who normally might

not go to church.

“Church is about people, it’s not about a building,” Howerton

said. “We believe God can use any shell to house the church.”

Worship Pastor Andrew Bray said it’s an opportunity for them to do

something unique and unconventional, while worshipping God and

sharing his message. Bray is also the lead singer of the Christian

rock band that performs during the services every Sunday.

Howerton said they work really hard to make certain that the Shark

Club services have all the same elements as the regular services. The

9 a.m. service at the church is recorded and then projected onto a

large screen for the nightclub services. They have a full production

crew that runs the audio and visual program.

“Our philosophy is unchanging with both services,” Bray said.

“It’s the same message.”

There are also several worship stations set up around the club --

giant crosses where people can pray and take communion.

Orange residents Buzzy and Beth Enniss have been looking for a

home church and have a lot of friends who attend services at Rock

Harbor. After checking out its web site, they decided that the Shark

Club services appealed to them most and attended for the first time

Sunday.

“We’ve always wanted to have church in a bar,” Beth Enniss said.

Buzzy Enniss joked that they had hoped the bar would be open.

The couple said although it wasn’t exactly what they were looking

for, they might come back because they met some nice people on their

way out.

Mark Jones, a bouncer at the Shark Club who works there during the

Rock Harbor services, said it’s a weird transition to go from dealing

with the drinking crowd on Saturday night to the more peaceful

church-goers on Sunday mornings.

“Who would ever think to have a church in a night club?” he said.

“This is the church of the millennium; this is what people want.”

Jones said he grew up Catholic, but since he works on the weekends

he doesn’t usually make it to church.

“Since I’ve been working here, this is my church,” he said. “It’s

an uplifting experience.”