Open Door Worship Center was founded in 1993 by its present pastor, Mark Elias. Pastor Mark felt the calling of God to put together a ministry that was both “conservative” and “liberal,” as it were. He himself was disenchanted with the fact that there seemed to be only two kinds of churches: Those that preached Jesus Christ, but with self-righteous legalism and loveless exclusion, or on the other hand, those that preached “love and acceptance” without the need to have a personal relationship with Christ Jesus.
The church began by holding services at the GEM Theater in Garden Grove, CA. Here, our congregation was often amused by the theater sets that surrounded the pastor while he was preaching. Often, he would prayerfully create sermons for which the sets would serve as an illustrative backdrop. Once, when the GEM Theater was doing Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” we became the church with the vampire’s coffin!
Then we moved to the city of Orange, CA, where we met every Sunday in Phill’s Ballroom Dance Studio. Here, we were “the church with the disco ball!” We were there for four years.
Then in 1997, we moved into our present facility in Bellflower, CA. (Please take a look at the page, “A Word About Our Facility” for a little more info about where we worship and celebrate Jesus together now.)
Throughout the years, we have had many, many challenges as a church that “doesn’t fit in.” But God has been faithful all the way, and if you stay close to Him, He will be forever faithful to you too!