WAYNE — Hundreds of worshippers attended the first services of Liquid Church, which merged with the former Preakness Faith Community Church to open its seventh campus in the state.
They met on Sunday in the same sanctuary, at 1441 Ratzer Road, which was built almost 50 years ago by a thriving Baptist congregation.
The faithful heard the same good news of the Bible, but with a present-day edge.
"We are pumped," said Tim Lucas, founder and lead pastor of Liquid Church. "We are so excited."
The dual services marked the first time the 11,568-square-foot church has been open since Preakness Faith convened for its last worship in July 2020.
Three months prior, its dwindling congregation of 67 members made the decision to donate the 4.3-acre property, near John F. Kennedy School, to the nondenominational Liquid Church.
Pastor Jane Harlan, who led services at Preakness Faith for decades, said the timing of the merger worked out. It is unlikely the church would have outlasted the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.
Still, Harlan said, it did not make the decision any easier. "We took baby steps through the process," she said. "We saw their love for us, and I think that made the difference."
The church had few alternatives, Harlan said, because the congregation did not want to sell its property, which she called "holy grounds," to a developer.
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So for several years, it implemented new measures to try to woo young families to its services.
That included one drastic step taken five years before the church's demise.
It forsook its own name, which had always been Preakness Baptist Church, in favor of an all-embracing identity.
"It was the hearts of all of the people that made this decision," said Harlan, now retired. "And I'm just really proud, and I'm honored to have been called their pastor."
The original congregation was established in an old frame building on the same property as Preakness Shopping Center on Hamburg Turnpike in January 1955. It was a mission by families of Calvary Baptist Church in Clifton.
A news article published on the day after its first service said the families "roughed it" under "pioneering conditions." There was "great optimism for the future," it said, as a "score of adults and children huddled near an open fireplace."
Attitudes about religion were different then.
A poll by Gallup shows, for the first time, less than a majority of U.S. adults — or 47% — belong to churches, mosques or synagogues. The results, released last year, also reveal the decline in interest is due to people having "no religious preference."
But Liquid Church is successful, Lucas said, because it appeals to every generation.
"That's part of the secret of our success," Lucas said. "We need the experience, maturity and wisdom of the older generations, but we also need the vitality and fresh vision of the younger generations. When you bring those two together, it's magic."
The Wayne congregation is the first Liquid Church in Passaic County, and the religious organization's fourth "rebirth" of a former church. Its other locations are in Garwood, Mountainside, the Parlin section of Sayreville, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Princeton and Somerville.
Some 5,000 people attend its services each week, either in person or online.
Lucas said his goal for Liquid Church is to "saturate" the entire state with the gospel of Christ. Ideally, he said, it will merge with aging congregations — or create its own — in every county.
About $1.5 million was invested in renovations to Preakness Faith. Most of that money, which came from church tithes, was spent on improvements to rooms for youth ministry and technology upgrades for its 236-seat sanctuary.
Pastor James Gottshall, 40, of Wharton, will lead services at the new campus.
"We're a come-as-you-are church," Gottshall said. "You don't have to worry about what to wear, or what not to wear — what to say, what not to say. It's truly come as you are."
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
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