It was time for a makeover.

The Christian Center in Kalispell, well-known in the Flathead Valley for its Christmas productions and other music ministries, today becomes Canvas Church in a rebranding effort aimed at bringing the congregation into the future.

A new variety of church services and new interior amenities such as theater seating are the physical manifestations of the rebranding, but lead pastor Kevin Geer quickly points out the church’s message hasn’t changed.

“The desire to reach the Flathead Valley with the message of hope found through Jesus has never wavered,” Geer said.

Canvas Church, so named because “we are each a canvas, on which our creator is painting a masterpiece” is creating new opportunities for people to experience God in a life-changing way, Geer said.

A native of Glendive who spent several years in Seattle, Geer came to Christian Center two years ago and quickly saw the need for rejuvenation. Attendance was lagging. The church averaged a Sunday-morning attendance of about 1,500 about 15 years ago, but Geer said that had dropped to around 550 per Sunday.

When the church began changing its format, Geer said the results were noticeable almost immediately. While a couple of hundred regular attendees left the church because of the huge changes, it has gained more than 1,200 new followers, Geer said. Last Sunday attendance was about 1,500.

“In the process of making all these changes, we saw people starting to give their lives to Jesus,” he said. “It’s really hard to argue with a new direction when you see lives being changed.”

And the transformation has been a very visible change of direction.

“We were known for our choir and orchestra, and those were good programs,” Geer said. “Churches are good at starting programs, but they’re bad at knowing when programs have run their course.”

The choir and orchestra were disbanded, much to the chagrin of many church members, Geer admitted. Traditional church choirs are lost on the younger generations, he said.

“We also decided to put the Christmas musical to bed. It had run its course and it was a wonderful 30 years.”

A four-person strategy team was formed to lead the rebranding, and those team members — Geer included — kept coming back to the name Canvas Church. Geer had done an eight-week series of sermons on the canvas theme, and even had a painter working on a big canvas on stage while he preached.

“We picked a multi-generational direction that has many viewpoints,” he said. “It’s geared to the young but leans into the wisdom of the older generation, and when you have that happening you get a healthy church.”

Canvas Church may have some similarities to the fast-growing Fresh Life Church, but Geer said he sees Fresh Life as a partner, not a competitor, in delivering the message of Christianity.

“The analogy I use is that McDonald’s and Burger King have the same mission — to sell burgers — but they each do it a little differently. It’s all the same mission but they’re reaching different people. Churches should be different.”

Geer said the rebranding doesn’t back away from the Christian message.

“While our packaging and methodology has changed, the message never will,” he stressed.

Canvas Church has expanded services. 

A new Saturday evening service is offered at 5 p.m. Also new is “Softer Sundays,” a traditional gathering at 9:30 a.m. in the lower auditorium where people can sing old hymns and listen to a video of Geer preaching.

At the same time, church services are offered at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. in the main sanctuary.

Encuentro, a Spanish service, is offered at 11:15 a.m. every Sunday in the lower auditorium.

The interior has been spruced up with new carpeting, theater seating for 955 people, an enhanced stage area and other amenities such as a coffee shop. Gone is the “purple castle,” Geer said, referring to the purple carpeting and fixtures throughout the sizable church.

More improvements will be forthcoming. By Easter 2015 a new entrance with a glass front will be added as “the final phase of this campus,” Geer said. The current foyer, part of the 2001 expansion, will be converted to children’s ministries.

“Our largest growth area is young families,” Gear noted.

He envisions Canvas Church as a multi-site ministry in the future.

The church has a long history in the Flathead Valley. It began about 1914, and the congregation bought its first property at the corner of Second Avenue and Fourth Street in 1924.

In 1926 the church became affiliated with the Assembly of God Church, an affiliation that will continue for Canvas Church.

Eventually it moved to a location on Buffalo Hill. When the Rev. Robert Ross became the pastor in 1978, he had only a part-time bookkeeper and part-time janitor.

The church began to grow under Ross’ leadership, and by the mid-1980s, a decision was made to purchase 17.5 acres in the Northridge development and build a new church. The congregation moved into the current facility at 255 Summit Ridge Dr. in 1986. In 2001 a $4.2 million addition doubled the space.

Ross continues to teach an adult Bible study class at Canvas Church. 

“Bob Ross gave us a great foundation. He’s the wisdom,” Geer said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.