PastorRod Warembourg blows leaves across the parking lot of Desert Creek Fellowship in Fountain Hills.

It’s a Monday morning, which means the exercise class will be meeting at 10 a.m. and Warembourg wants to make sure the place looks tidy.

“You get to spend some time working out and get a little bit of spiritual encouragement while you’re here,” Warembourg said, an electronic engineer by trade whose role as a pastor means more than just sharing a message on Sunday morning. “Blowing leaves, doing the sound, making the videos. I have people that help, of course, but pastor is just a servant. That’s what Jesus was; just a servant.”

Humble beginning

April marks Desert Creek’s 10th anniversary. It also marks 10 years for Warembourg, who started the church out of his Fountain Hills home.

“We started really small and, in fact, we started in my basement,” he said. “We cleared the couch out, set up some folding chairs…we did [with] what we had and we worked with what we could.”

Not long after, the church grew into what used to be a bank on Ivory Drive near the north end of town. The space sat idle for a few years before Warembourg put in an offer on the vacant building.

“I placed a really low offer on it. I mean, like, insultingly low,” Warembourg said, whose offer was promptly turned down. Meanwhile, the building was put under contract by a new buyer.

In prayer, Warembourg felt an urge from God to be persistent on the building, telling his realtor that if the building fell out of contract with the new buyer, to offer $20,000 less than their initial offer.

“[The realtor] called me a couple of days later. She goes, ‘How did you know it was going fall out of contract?’” Warembourg said.

Warembourg’s offer was accepted and spent almost exactly $20,000 on roof, floor, air-conditioning and other necessary repairs on the church, which has culminated in 10 full years of fellowship.

“I was thanking God for making a way for us. It was just cool to watch him move,” Warembourg said.

Passover plans

To celebrate its anniversary, Desert Creek is holding its annual Passover celebration on Friday, April 7, at 6 p.m. in the Desert Creek sanctuary, where the community is welcome to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

At the service, parishioners can expect a traditional service that is, according to Warembourg, “hopelessly gentile with the traditional flair,” which will include seder plates, communion, a telling of the exodus and the plagues that fell over the Egyptians along with an activity for the children in a potluck-style gathering.

As an homage to the feast of unleavened bread, the food will include no yeast to commemorate the hasty departure of the Israelites from Egypt which interrupted the bread’s proofing process.

Desert Creek Fellowship is part of the Fountain Hills Christian Ministerial Association (FHCMA), which will host the coming Easter Sunrise Service at 6 a.m. on Sunday, April 9, at the amphitheater in Fountain Park.

“Churches argue about silly things…what makes our ministerial group so special is that we set all that stuff aside and we just preach Christ and Christ crucified,” Warembourg said. “We can all agree on that.”

Looking back on 10 years of fellowship, Warembourg said it’s a shame if his charisma is what keeps his parishioners coming back.

“If you wanna go see a concert, go see a concert. If you want to hear a dynamic speaker, there's a lot of dynamic speakers out there. And if you want a self-help message, I stay home and watch PBS,” he said. “We gather because of the power of God. We gather because something transpires.”

Despite a decade of change and growth that has occurred in the Desert Creek church community, Warembourg is content knowing the only thing that is unchanged is the presence of God in their fellowship.

“I look back and think, ‘Why would people show up to a basement? That's weird. And why would they even be part of that?’ And yet, they did.”

Desert Creek Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10 a.m. in its sanctuary. To sign up for the Passover service on Friday, April 7, call the church at 480-616-4696. Desert Creek is located at 15024 N. Ivory Drive. For more information, visit desertcreekfellowship.com.