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The First Assembly of God church west of Luverne has a new name and a new face behind the pulpit.
In March Bob and Annette Junak took over as pastors of the church, now known as Rock River Community Church.
They moved to Luverne from Minneapolis where Bob pastored a church and Annette worked in the Assemblies of God district office, which oversees the 250-some churches in Minnesota.
When Pastor Ken and Gloria Kashner retired last fall, the Junaks noticed an opening in Luverne and looked at the map.
“At first we dismissed it,” Bob said. “And then we took a drive down the day after Thanksgiving. The town felt nice. It was clean and inviting.”
Annette said it felt like Luverne could be home.
So, they expressed interest and were invited to interview and meet the congregation.
“It was a meet and greet with the search committee, and it was like we already knew all of them,” Bob said. “We left here that afternoon and we felt great. It was comfortable.”
Bob’s first sermon on March 14 was based on Nehemiah, who organized the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.
“I talked about being ‘all in.’ Our ministry is to change and refresh,” he said.
The sanctuary has roughly 100 chairs.
“Some ministers teach and preach. What God has blessed us with is foundational building and creating change. God’s always placed us in a position of building and rebuilding and restructuring.”
The Junaks started with physical updates, like new paint and simplified décor.
“I declared the church a doily-free zone. Grandma don’t live here,” Bob said. “And everybody laughed.”
They also updated the landscaping with new flowers and shrubs and put up a temporary banner over the sign advertising the church’s new name.
“When we thought about a name, we asked, ‘What does Luverne identify with?’ We thought that Rock River Community Church sounded like something the community could identify with,” Bob said.
Annette said, “We’re still Assembly of God, but we wanted a name to identify with the community.”
She said she hopes the new name will encourage some exploration. “Sometimes people have the wrong ideas about what Assembly of God means,” she said.
The Junaks work part time as pastors and part time as commercial millwork estimators for a company in Blaine. Between pastoring and estimating, they both work full time.
“It’s like working two full-time jobs,” Bob said.
Annette is also a credentialed pastor and delivered the Mother’s Day message. Their son, who is also a pastor, will travel to Luverne to deliver the Father’s Day message.
The Junaks hail from Ishpeming, Michigan, a town the size of Luverne, and located about two hours from Green Bay. They have two grown children and three grandchildren, all in the Twin Cities area.
The congregation has roughly 50 members and the Junaks said they look forward to pandemic restriction lifting so their church services can accommodate more members.
“It’s our desire to bring a freshness and fun back to church,” Bob said. “We believe in creating a space where people can hang out, meet Jesus and leave encouraged, yet challenged.”
Sunday worship service is in-person at 10 a.m. and Sunday School is at 9 a.m.
The church is seeking musicians to accompany worship services and has a full set of percussion and other instruments.
The phone number is 507-283-9070 and email is info@rockrivercommunity.church. The website is www.rockrivercommunity.church.