SARTELL -- A local congregation has found a new home in a somewhat unusual place. The Solid Rock Family Church has moved into the former office and training center building for the Verso Paper Mill.

Lead Pastor Ryan Conrad says they've been leasing space for the past seven years at the Parkwood Movie Theater in Waite Park.

He says their new location has been a perfect fit for them.

It's a wonderful facility. It's well built. It's about 25,000 square feet, so it's large.  One of the things that appealed to us is the large parking lot.

Conrad says they've held services at their new location for the past five Sundays.

He says the building allows them to enjoy some permanent space.

One of the things that we felt excited about is that they had office space.  For the past seven years, most of my officing has been happening at places like coffee shops and libraries.

He says having a place to call home, after renting the movie theater for seven years, will allow the church to offer more programs and events.

In our previous arrangement, we only had it for a few hours on Sunday morning.  We we're really excited about the idea that we have a place where we can do things on any night of the week.

They are leasing the nine-acre site right now from AIM Development, but are in the process of buying it and hope to finalize the deal in the next four to five months.

Conrad says they typically have about 300 parishioners attend their Sunday services.  They hold two Sunday services each week.

The building has been empty basically since the explosion and fire that shut down the paper mill in May of 2012.

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