Church Moves Into Mall Theater

The movie theater at the mall is home to Temecula's newest church.

"The Church at the Promenade" held its first service today at the at the Promenade.

Blue banners with Christian messages stood in a door to the left of the theater's main entrance this morning as congregants snacked on cupcakes and chatted.

Children played in a small kids area, and ushers milled through the hallways as an acoustic rock band warmed up in one of the theaters in front of a silver screen.

The new church is what's left over of an older congregation that dissolved, said Pastor Jason Stewart.

"We were the only ones interested in continuing on," he said.

The discovery of the theater as a house for his congregation came coincidentally, he recalled.

When his previous congregation broke apart, he had a heavy heart. He thought hard about the problem and prayed for a solution, he said.

Recently, he went to the theater to see "Soul Surfer" when the answer to his prayers lit up the screen. An advertisement said the theater rented space for churches.

"I called the number and here we are," Stewart said.