Harboring hope

Deirdre Newman

Rock Harbor Church, which hit rock bottom in late 2001 when its

founder and lead pastor resigned after admitting to an extramarital

affair, is rising from the depths of betrayal and mistrust with a

novel approach to its leadership structure.

Two pastors are now leading the church, creating a partnership to

share the responsibility and the pressure of a congregation that has

mushroomed to about 2,000.

Both pastors and their wives will also participate in marriage

counseling, at the request of the church’s governing board, to

prevent succumbing to a temptation like the one that felled founder

Keith Page.

Todd Proctor, who co-founded the church with Page, is now the lead

pastor and will oversee the worship services. Mike Erre, the former

college pastor at Mariners Church in Irvine, will be the new teaching

pastor.

Both say their skills complement each other and will provide the

church with a more well-rounded sense of leadership.

“There’s just a sense of we each get to operate out of our own

giftedness,” Erre said. “We each don’t carry for ourselves the

pressure for the whole thing.”

Rock Harbor was founded five years ago as an offshoot of Mariners

Church to reach out to youth by making worship more relevant to their

lives.

After remarkable growth and success, Page announced his

resignation in October 2001 after admitting to having an extramarital

affair with a female church member.

After stepping down, Page worked with the church leadership on his

own healing process. Proctor, 35, stepped in as interim lead pastor,

but said he didn’t expect to be offered the lead position.

“It’s not something I ever aspired to,” Proctor said. “In the

midst of the [recovery process], we began to recognize that the

church is a lot bigger than one guy. It takes a team to lead a

church, and I think God has allowed me to be a great team leader.”

Erre, 31, who worked with students at Mariners, said he is

grateful for the opportunity to bring his energetic attitude and

teaching skills to the team. Erre will be speaking on Sundays during

services and overseeing the children’s and youth ministry.

“What I can bring to the church is just a deep appreciation for

the power of truth,” Erre said. “I think there’s also a sense of

stability. Now that the congregation and staff know who’s going to be

here, we can move forward.”

And moving forward, the church will only be stronger because the

focus has shifted back to where it truly belongs, Proctor said.

“Sometimes things have to be broken to really become dependent on

God again, and I think God has led us through a real season of not

depending on any one person, but depending on Him as our leader.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at [email protected].