CHRISTIAN TEEN CENTER NOW OPEN

Rock music boomed, lights flashed, teen-agers played air hockey in a room illuminated with blacklights while elsewhere others played pool and basketball.

A gift shop sold T-shirts and books like "Bad Girls of the Bible."

This is Freedom Rock, a youth center and ministry that hopes to provide teens with a positive atmosphere to socialize in.

An estimated 250 people attended the dedication ceremonies Thursday night.

Cape First Assembly youth pastor Mike Lovig said it is hoped other churches soon will be involved.

"We are coming together to see our teen-agers reach their destinies..." he said.

The Rev. Gary Brothers, pastor of Cape First Assembly, said Freedom Rock is "not just a building but a tool ... that will have an impact on the entire region."

State Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, called the facility "the most exciting thing on the youth scene I've seen in 25 years."

Freedom Rock has a load capacity of 542 people, 350 of whom can sit in the auditorium for church services or as they recently did for a Christian rap concert.

The room is equipped with high-tech video, sound and laser lighting equipment.

Licensed security personnel will be on duty every hour the center is open.

Cameras trained on every room in the building are linked to monitors in a security control room stationed high above the floor.

For the past month, Freedom Rock has been open from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays, when a church service is held.

Beginning June 1, the youth center will be open from 8 p.m. to midnight on Fridays. No service is held on Fridays.

The center is open to anyone from seventh-grade through college.

Lovig presented Rocky Francis and his wife, Angie, with flowers and a plaque.

Angie Francis decorated the glistening interior and her husband acted as the general contractor.

Almost all the labor involved in transforming the former grocery store into Freedom Rock was donated.

Christina Perry, a 14-year-old student at Deer Creek Christian Academy, prizes the chance to socialize.

"I go to a small school. This is the opportunity to have a social life I don't have at my school," she said.

Freedom Rock provides a healthy and safe environment to do that, she said.

"Lots of kids in town are into some bad stuff," she said. "Even if you're not really godly, this is a good place to come so you don't get in trouble."