By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

MAINEVILLE - The Crossroads Christian Church in Maineville is closer to the home of Dennis and Viola Ruth of South Lebanon than where they used to attend services in Butler County.

Pastor Rob Cordrey of the Crossroads Christian Church in Maineville conducts services at the church's temporary home in an old auto repair shop on Route 48. (Thomas E. Witte photo)

So it doesn't matter much to them that they'll be attending Christmas services in a church that was once a car repair business, complete with a garage door into the sanctuary.

"I just feel you can worship the Lord anywhere. It doesn't matter what it looks like. It's what's inside," said Viola Ruth, 48.

The Ruths are like thousands of Greater Cincinnati residents who attend church in unconventional buildings, some by choice and some by circumstance.

Larry Holmes is executive director of Christian Evangelizing Fellowship, a group that helps find locations for churches in Greater Cincinnati. He said that in the past 17-plus years, he's seen congregations meet in school buildings, country clubs and movie theaters.

"Probably the strangest place for churches to meet is in funeral homes, but I don't really like to use them," he said. "Once you get inside it's nice because they usually have a chapel, but it's hard to get people to come there."

Attendance has not been a problem for Eastside Christian Church in Milford. The church moved six weeks ago from a 225-seat conventional church building in Miami Township. It has grown from 900 people at its first service inside its converted movie-theater sanctuary to 1,360 people on a recent weekend.

The church has spent about $7 million to buy the 55-acre lot, convert the theater into a house of worship and resurface the road leading to it.

But the new location, which has a theatrical stage, a large children's classroom upstairs, a coffee bar and the latest audio and visual equipment, is exactly what the church wanted, said Bryce Davis, community pastor for the church.

"It's fulfilling all the needs we wanted it to fulfill," Davis said. "I don't think we'd have gotten what we wanted out of our facility."

The church plans to add more buildings to create a campus.

Unusual space yields diversity

At Crossroads Community Church in Oakley, the unconventional look of its church - a former HQ home-improvement store at Ridge Avenue and Madison Road - turned out to be a great way to reach people in search of something different.

"We were trying to reach people who don't necessarily feel connected to traditional churches," said Brian Wells, teaching pastor at the church since it began meeting in the Clark Montessori School auditorium in 1996.

The church has spent $11.4 million on its new home, including $4 million to buy the building. Members moved into the 90,000-square-foot structure two years ago with 1,500 people.

But the church's unconventional appearance and high-visibility intersection has helped attendance grow to 4,500 people during four services each weekend. The church says it also is attracting a more diverse congregation than at its Hyde Park home.

"It's contemporary, but everything in here is designed to foster relationships, with people and with God," Wells said.

Finding God in all places

Members of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church work hard to bring a sense of tradition to their large space.

The church, which meets in the Hamilton Township Community Center near Maineville, carries everything it needs for services in two portable tubs and an old golf bag.

"We try to make it home," said Jeff Queen, church official. "We have a banner. We hang an icon in one corner. Put out candles and have a processional cross. We try to make it as much of a traditional worship space as we can."

In January, the 70-member church will finalize the purchase of eight acres northeast of their current spot and begin worshipping in a 4,000-square-foot pole barn.

A farmhouse on the property will house classrooms.

But in the future, the congregation will build a permanent home on the property, Queen said.

For its 5 p.m. Christmas Eve services, the congregation will borrow the Maineville United Methodist Church at 60 E. Foster-Maineville Road. But the church has learned from its time in the community center.

"We'll probably make the church a little more multipurpose and multimedia-friendly," Queen said.

Rob Cordrey, pastor of the nearby Crossroads Christian Church, said he's also learned from his experience in the 6,000-square-foot warehouse.

"It's reinforced the idea that the church is not about the building - it's about our ministries and what goes on inside," Cordrey said.

"And that's made it so we don't have to invest as much in a state-of-the-art facility. Instead, we'll put the money into ministries and benevolence in the community and into the people, which is better than brick and mortar."

Churches in odd buildings

• Crossroads Christian Church (nondenominational)

Address: 6107 Ohio 48, Hamilton Township, Warren County

Odd building: Former car repair garage and warehouse (temporary)

Weekend attendance: 150

Phone: 583-5795

Christmas Eve service: 6 p.m.

Regular services: Saturday, Xtreme Kidz, 5 p.m.; Sunday, 10:45 a.m.

Web site: www.crossroadschristianchurch.org

• Crossroads Community Church (nondenominational)

Address: 3500 Madison Road, Oakley

Odd building: Former HQ hardware store (permanent)

Weekend attendance: 4,500

Phone: 731-7400

Christmas Eve services: 1:15, 2:30, 3:45, 5, 6:15 and 7:30 p.m.

Regular services: Saturday, 5:30 p.m.; Sunday 9, 10:20 and 11:40 a.m.

Web site: www.crossroadscommunity.net

• Eastside Christian Church (nondenominational)

Address: 5874 Montclair Blvd., Milford

Odd building: Former movie theater (permanent)

Weekend attendance: 1,360

Phone: 931-4373

Christmas Eve services: 4:30, 5:30 and 11:15 p.m.

Regular services: Saturday, 5:15 p.m.; Sunday, 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Web site: www.eastsidechristian.com

• St. Mary Magdalene Fellowship (Episcopal)

Address: 117 W. U.S. 22/Ohio 3, Hamilton Township, Warren County

Odd building: Hamilton Township Community Center, soon to be a pole barn (both temporary)

Weekend attendance: 70

Phone: 677-1777

Christmas Eve service: 5 p.m. at the Maineville United Methodist Church

Regular service: Sunday, 10 a.m.

Web site: www.episcopal-dso.org