Strength in fewer numbers

National | Religion

Folding chairs are packed densely into the Costa Mesa Seniors Center, but gray hairs are difficult to find among the overflow crowd at Rock Harbor Church. A rugged cross dominates the T-shirt-clad musicians on stage blasting high-megawatt music to the youthful throng. "The cross on stage needed to look organic, like something worn and beaten," says Pete Shambrook, an avid surfer originally from Australia. At 40, he's the seasoned veteran among a team of pastors at Rock Harbor mostly in their 30s. "The cross really represents our church," he says. "It's rough, it doesn't have polished edges."

The cross on stage is one of five placed strategically around the room where worshippers receive the communion elements. "There will also be elders and pastors waiting to pray for you at the crosses," Mr. Shambrook says. "Watching people minister to each other in a service is just 'killer,'" he says. "It wrecks you, it's so beautiful."