When the house lights dim in the newly renovated historic Hollywood, Fla., theater and the spotlight trains on Pastor Martin Vargas, a message — not a person — will take center stage. The message: “God knows; He changes lives; there is growth in the Truth; and we are fulfilling the Great Commission.”
Vargas, a native of the Dominican Republic, appreciates the vision Hollywood Playhouse had for more than six decades in bringing live theater to its community — but he wants more.
Real Church, or Iglesia Real, is set to share the gospel in Spanish, English and Portuguese — from one of the largest stages in South Florida — and will serve as a hub for church plants.
“I wanted to plant a church that is doctrinally sound and that has authentic Christians,” Vargas said.
When he saw the vintage theater in 2012 — a vandalized building with broken skylights — he wasn’t deterred. Vargas saw a gift from God.
Just five years earlier the theater had undergone a restorative face-lift. A magazine described the 18,000-square-foot facility as a “full-service venue” with recording and dance studios, a design shop, film-editing suites and a closed sound stage.
Searching for a place to plant
In 2004, Vargas left a lucrative business to start a church in South Florida. Eight years later, with a passion to move his congregation to where they could have the greatest impact, he prayed about the $1.5 million price tag for the two-acre theater property with its 300-seat auditorium.
The timing was not right and soon the bank that owned the property sold it to a Miami man who hoped to re-vamp the declining theater.
After a two-year search for a building Vargas led his congregation in a 40 Days of Prayer campaign. On the final day of the prayer campaign he got a call. The bank wanted to meet. The man with the cash had been jailed on federal charges.
“That Monday was a divine appointment,” Vargas recalled. “I went to the meeting with my realtor, (who was) a member of my church, with the thought, ‘I’m just a pastor with no money.’ I said, ‘If this is coming from God, I need to see God’s hand clearly.’”
Vargas could not believe what he heard at the meeting. The bank would lower the selling price to $1.2 million and pay for the installation of new electrical wiring, 17 new air conditioning units and a new roof.
A big expense
The only big expense the banker warned Vargas about was a need to purchase theater seats. At that point, Vargas started smiling. A local synagogue had offered him 300 seats they no longer needed — just in case.
With just three months to raise a quarter of a million dollars Vargas and his son, Homer, who will lead the English-speaking congregation at Real, started a Nehemiah fundraising campaign. Sacrificial pledges and commitments poured in — some from believers as far away as Bolivia and Nicaragua.
The bank called and moved the closing date up to June 26. They told Vargas to bring whatever he had in his hands. He still needed about $70,000.
A local restaurant owner gave a large donation. A church member drove by and handed him a check. A barbecue yielded several thousand dollars. Meanwhile renovations began with members providing skilled labor to return the theater to its former luster.
Alex Comesañas, a Send North America: Miami city missionary, organized a missions team from Suwanee Baptist Association in the Florida Panhandle to assist through the North American Mission Board’s Send North America strategy.
Construction should be complete by the end of 2014 and the church plans to start meeting in the theater in early 2015.
Learn more about Send North America: Miami and how you can become involved at namb.net/Miami.
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