MURRAY — Perhaps it's fitting that K2 The Church found its second home in a place that for part of its existence was the Fun Dome.
Because K2, a nondenominational Christian church, isn't the sort of church where worshippers quietly slip into pews, sing seasonal or standard hymns and listen to sermons delivered from a pulpit.
At K2, little kids get their wiggles out before Sunday school by jumping on indoor bounce houses. Meanwhile, the adults rock out in the auditorium with a praise band. Lead pastor Dave Nelson is on his feet throughout the church's services, too, as he offers his sermons and leads his congregation in worship.
On Sunday, K2 celebrated the grand opening of its new location at 5049 S. Murray Boulevard during two worship services. The party extended into the parking lot with food trucks and music for regulars and visitors curious about K2's new digs and fellowship opportunities.
The old Fun Dome is along a TRAX line, as was the church's first location in South Salt Lake City. The former Fun Dome arcade, which had a skating rink, bowling alleys, miniature golf and at one point bungee jumping, has ample parking and space for the church activities and room for growth.
But the church didn't need the entire building 24/7. Nor did the American International School of Utah, a K-12 charter school, which also had designs on the space.
So leaders of the two organizations figured out a way to co-locate their programs, with the school occupying the space during the week and the church using the space on weekends and some weeknights for classes and other activities.
"In our old location, our lobby was so small that we never had room for people to actually hang out. It was almost like the services was over and it was like 'OK, just leave.'
"To now have a space for where literally hundreds of people can gather together and meet each other, that's big for us," Nelson said.
K2 raised funds to construct an auditorium and preschool space, both of which can be used by the charter school.
The church uses the school's instructional and recreational space during the week.
Nelson said K2 was very much a part of South Salt Lake, partnering with the city and community organizations to perform service work and inviting resident to its services.
The church hopes to maintain those bonds while forging new relationships with Murray. "I just want our community to know that we're just here to serve. One of the things Jesus said was 'I didn't come to be served but to serve.' So if you're a follower of Christ, that should be the hallmark of why you're here," Nelson said.
The church, now more than a decade old, has a homeless outreach effort and international service opportunities. One of the church's first large-scale service projects involved cleaning up Sugarhouse Park after the Fourth of July Fireworks show.
K2 got its start when former University of Utah defensive tackle Luther Elliss left a voice mail message for Dave Nelson, who was the teaching pastor at the Michigan church Elliss attended while playing professional football.
Elliss was nearing the end of his career with the Detroit Lions organization and had been doing a lot of thinking and praying about what would come next, he said.
He and his wife Rebecca had found a church home in Kensington Church, a nondenominational Christian church in Troy, Michigan. The couple began to imagine how a church like Kensington could flourish in Salt Lake.
He left a message with Nelson, to ask him: "What would you think about planting a church in Salt Lake City? Give me a call." That was in 2002.
Nelson, whom Elliss said had been feeling "similar stirrings" moved his family to Salt Lake City, along with a handful of other families connected to Kensington. K2 planted roots in a warehouse in South Salt Lake.
Within a decade, the church had outgrown its location in South Salt Lake and cast about looking for new space.
Elliss said Sunday's grand opening, dubbed Adventure 2.0, was fruition of a dream and an opportunity to share K2's offerings with the community.
"We offer 'just come as you are.' We're just an open church that loves people. We're all broken. We all need a place to call our spiritual home or somewhere to go and be with people and to explore and to seek and hopefully come to an understanding of who is Jesus Christ. What does that mean to you? How does that affect you and why is that important?"
Sunday's crowd was an opportunity for K2 to check its systems and open its doors to a larger community, Elliss said.
"Just looking in from the outside, you're like 'That's interesting. That's an interesting looking church.' Hopefully the curiosity intrigues them enough that they're willing to step inside and check us out to see what we're about."
Email: marjorie@deseretnews.com