What: Solid Rock Church
Campuses: North: 903 Union Road, Monroe; South: 3946 Hopper Hill Road, Cincinnati
Service times: North: 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Wednesday; South: 10:30 a.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. Thursday
Founded: 1978
Membership: 3,500
Solid Rock Church has shown it's more than a one-man show.
Since the Rev. Lawrence Bishop, the church's spiritual leader, passed away one year ago, the mega-church, known for the massive Jesus statue that towers over Interstate 75, has experienced growth and built on his foundation, his family said.
Bishop, 69, died from a massive stroke on Sept. 30, 2011, and soon his only son and one of his four children, Lawrence Bishop II, was named co-pastor, joining his mother, the Rev. Darlene Bishop, in the pulpit.
The church, with locations off Interstate 75 in Monroe and Cincinnati, has more than 3,500 active members, slightly more than last year at this time, said Ron Carter, church administrator since 1995. Carter said there was “never despair” among the church’s leaders following the death of Bishop, founding pastor of the church.
When Lawrence and Darlene Bishop opened the church as Middletown Evangelistic Center in 1978, there were 12 members. The church’s membership grew to 300 in September 1992 when it relocated to its 73-acre Monroe location and changed its name. Soon, Carter said, the pews were “flooded with people.”
Darlene said her late husband, known as “the king of the Christian cowboys,” prided himself on “winning souls” and growing the church and that philosophy remains true.
Darlene Bishop, 68, said after her husband of 49 years died, there was a “smooth transition” in the church’s leadership. She said her son, Lawrence Bishop II, 46, immediately reduced his musical engagements, canceled his travel plans and focused on being full-time co-pastor at Solid Rock.
“He really stepped up to the plate,” Darlene said last week while sitting in a church office.
In her son, she said, she sees “a lot of his daddy.”
Then she added: “Change is good if it’s channeled in the right direction.”
Every Sunday morning, just like she did with her husband, Darlene and her son rotate preaching at the church’s north campus in Monroe and the south campus in Cincinnati.
Lawrence Bishop II, a 1984 Edgewood High School graduate, understands while he’s filling the role his father played in the church, he can’t be his father. Lawrence Bishop’s chair in the pulpit remains empty.
Lawrence Bishop was a nationally recognized horse rancher and breeder of quarter horses. He operated LB Ranch across Interstate 75 from the church. The ranch produced several World Champion quarter horses.
Before entering the ministry, Bishop was a well-known quarter horse auctioneer.
He also was an accomplished musician. His band released six Gospel Bluegrass CDs and recorded four No. 1 songs. He was the 2005 Music Evangelist of the Year and the 2007 Inspirational Bluegrass Artist.
At his funeral, his wife told the overflow crowd: “It will take more than an hour to bury a king.”
When his father passed, and he was named co-pastor, Bishop II realized he had “a great task” in front of him. Instead of being a part-time pastor, one whom delivered sermons only a few Sundays a year, he understood thousands of people would look toward him for spiritual advice.
He went from back-up to starter that quickly.
“Every single time I got in front of people, I didn’t think I had what it took,” he said. “But there was a feeling that God gave me the power and strength to do more than I thought possible. It was tangible help that I was getting. He only gives grace when you need it. We don’t walk in clouds every day. He promised to help us through those times.
“I know God in a way now I didn’t know before.”
Then he added with a nervous laugh: “It was kinda overwhelming.”
He should be used to the spotlight. For more than 20 years, he was a professional bull rider and an accomplished musician, like his father. And his entire life, he’s been tattooed with the PK (Preacher’s Kid) nickname on his forehead. He never ran from the label.
“The hardest part,” he said, “is the way people are always watching you. If there are three kids throwing rocks in a parking lot, the people only see the preacher’s kid. You live under a microscope. But I think some kids use it as an excuse to be wild.”
Last week, Bishop II, who is married to Saleena and they have two young sons, Elvis and Rio, led a Solid Rock missionary disaster relief trip to New Jersey and New York to deliver two vans and a trailer of supplies to those impacted by Hurricane Sandy.
When asked about his goals for the church, he said: “Now is the time to take the place to next level. It’s where God wants us to be. It’s bigger than my abilities. That’s why I totally depend on God.”
A few days after her husband died, Darlene spoke at his funeral and led an overflow crowd in the church’s first service without its spiritual leader. Her family and church friends told her to step away from the pulpit, to take an extended bereavement break.
But she couldn’t turn her back on the church, her family, she said.
“They needed to hear from their momma,” Darlene said. “I had to talk to them. My life is here. I live for this church. I’d rather be here than anywhere.”
She refused to question her husband’s death. “God never makes a mistake,” she said.
When they married, Darlene was 17, Lawrence was 19. They grew up together, she said. When you saw one, the other was nearby. Now, she said through tears, “My days are a lot different without him.”
In the last year, Darlene remembers one grieving session in particular that started at 12:30 a.m. and ended five hours later. She laid in bed — the same place she served her husband dinner nearly every night — overcome with emotion as she looked around the room. Her eyes kept returning to the closet full of his clothes and cowboy boots. Everywhere she looks in the home, there are his initials — L.B. — what she called “a lot of reminders.”
The same is true at the church where the family center, outdoor amphitheater and a college scholarship are named after Lawrence Bishop. This fall, Solid Rock erected another statue to replace the “King of Kings” that burned down after it was struck by lightning in June 2010. The church’s new 51-foot Jesus statue, named “Lux Mundi,” was designed by Lawrence Bishop, though he didn’t live to see it erected.
Still, his wife said, “he’d be so proud.”
Next summer, the church plans to open on its property a 300-crypt mausoleum, and the first entombed will be Lawrence Bishop, whom will be transferred from the mausoleum at Woodside Cemetery.
In the next several years, Bishop said she hopes to continue following her husband’s wishes. At Solid Rock, the goal is to “tear down the walls of religion,” she said.
The congregation at Solid Rock is as diverse as the community it serves, Darlene said. She loves to say Solid Rock has members who graduated from Penn State and others from the state penitentiary.
“We are no different,” she said. “We are a family here.”
She has heard the rumors that before a person can become a member at Solid Rock, they must show a copy of their tax records, to verify their financial worthiness. She laughed about that one. “That’s so far from the truth.”
Ginger Raby, a member at Solid Rock since 2000 and a student in its Bible College, said the church is reaping the “fruits of labor” from Lawrence Bishop. She said he groomed his son to one day lead the congregation. That day is now.
“It’s been a blessing to watch him grow in confidence,” Raby said. “He has really stepped into that position. I see so much of his father in him. He has that unconditional love of unsaved people.”
Carter said because of Bishop II’s “style of delivery,” he’s appealing to the younger members, but it’s the “same message” from his father preached.
Dora Bronston, president of the Middletown Area NAACP, is director of the church’s Bible College. After a loss in leadership, she said, change is inevitable, and the church has seen change. She said Lawrence Bishop II “stepped in” and provided “a fresh start” at the church.
“We are still walking in his vision,” Bronston said of Lawrence Bishop. “It’s like the baton has been passed. We are still running toward the finish line, but we are running the race a little different.”
Bronston, a Solid Rock member since Valentine’s Day 1994, said Darlene has taken a more active role in the church since her husband’s death. She called Darlene “a strong person” and the “spiritual mother” to the congregation.
“We are moving forward,” Bronston said. “We can’t look back. You can always remember but you can’t go back.”
She said a good measure of a leader is whether they train leaders. Lawrence Bishop aced that test, she said.
“We’re in good hands,” she said.
About the Author
