Juneau Christian Center

This is the opening message to visitors at the Juneau Christian Center website. The Center is a member of the Assemblies of God network and espouses creationism, dominionism and a strict adherence to a literal view of the Bible.

Our Purpose:    To win souls and make disciples!
Our Passion:    To Love God and Love People!
Our Path:         Win, Connect, Disciple, and Send.

The Juneau Christian Center was founded by Charles and Florence Personeus who followed the gold rush into Alaska to bring a message of God’s love for the citizens. On Thanksgiving Day 1917, Bethel Pentecostal Mission opened in South Franklin and became Alaska’s first Pentecostal church. George McNeven and his family led the church from 1974 to 1985. Pastor McNeven wanted to expand the ministry of the Bethel church and he needed a much larger facility. He set about building a Christian school and a new church that were completed in 1978.

Since 1987, the pastor has been Mike Rose. New digs for the Center are underway and will seat over 1100 worshippers. Needless to say, the recruiting activities of the Juneau Christian Center are very successful as the church has enjoyed steady growth over many decades.

New members assigned to a Life Leader whose role it is to help integrate these individuals into the practices of the church which include Life Groups that meet every week in members’ homes. Juneau Christian Center members enter the ‘School of Destiny’ that teaches five seven-week levels of study. The School’s mission is to train its followers to take the message of God, according to the Center’s doctrine, out to the public at large.

Since Sarah Palin’s nomination for Vice President, the Juneau Christian Center has come under a good deal of scrutiny. Part of the reason for a closer look at the Center reveals a close relationship with John Hagee of "Christians United For Israel". This group lobbied the Bush administration to attack Iran to spark a Middle East war that would hasten the second coming of Jesus. This is clearly ‘end of times’ theology.

Hagee’s background includes a tie with "Joel's Army" - and he was one of the pastors McCain had used as "spiritual advisors". It was more of a political ruse actually since John McCain was trying to get on the good side of the more dominionist fundamentalists within the Republican Party; he wasn’t really trying to snuggle up with ‘God’s warriors’ and there is even a good chance he had no idea what these men actually represented, behind the scenes.

John Hagee is controversial to say the least. His doctrine includes the belief that some Jews can be saved without an acceptance of Christ. Since this is the entire basis for all Christian faiths, his claims are considered by many orthodox believers as heretical. Essentially what he preaches is that Jews don’t need redemption because they already have their own deal (covenant) with God. In reality, what it does is to preclude Jewish followers from the salvation of Christ by actually denying access to the Good News and therefore, the second coming of Christ to save the world. Hagee's Pentecostal roots are showing and so is his anti-Semitism.

It is easy to conclude that some of Sarah Palin’s religious friends are hoping to catch a ride on the Trojan Horse that will bring Armageddon and The Rapture. Pastor Rose at the Juneau Christian Center is probably one of them, at least, based on some of his ‘end of days’ sermons. In two separate services in July, 2007, Mike Rose told the congregation:
"Those that die without Christ have a horrible, horrible surprise."

"Do you believe we’re in the last days? After listening to Newt Gingrich and the prime minister of Israel and a number of others at our gathering, I became convinced, and I have been convinced for some time. We are living in the last days. These are incredible times to live in."

The Juneau Christian Center is elbow deep in the circuitous maze of religious right extremism. This the rhetoric that Sarah Palin chooses as her spiritual guide. It conjures up the Trojan Horse mythology of yore – will an army come forth from the horse (God/Good) to slay the enemy (Satan/Evil)?