A Nondenominational Church on Utica Road
Rockpointe Community Church gathers on Utica Road in Sterling Heights, Michigan, in a building that has anchored the same parcel since 1983. The motto is short and direct: Love God. Love others. The rest will follow. What began as a Pentecostal fellowship meeting in an elementary school gym in 1968 has grown into a nondenominational congregation that runs its own preschool, hosts a Bible institute, feeds neighbors through a food pantry, and partners with ministries in Detroit and Central America. Worship is held Sundays at 9 and 11 AM, with children's programming for infants through sixth grade at both hours and a livestream of the 11 AM service on YouTube.
Rockpointe's style is informal and contemporary. Visitors are greeted at the Welcome Center, free Wi-Fi is offered so anyone can look up Scripture on a phone, and a volunteer-staffed spot called The Porch Café serves coffee before and between services. The dress is casual. The teaching is conversational and grounded in the Bible.
Five Decades from an Elementary School to a Mortgage Burning
The community has carried several names. In 1968 a small group of believers began meeting at Margaret Black Elementary School in Sterling Heights and shortly moved into a modest building on Plumbrook Avenue as Sterling Heights Assembly of God. Under Pastor Leo Tomko the congregation purchased land on Utica Road next to the Rammler Golf Course and broke ground on a permanent home in April 1982. The building was completed in about a year, and on March 13, 1983, Pastor Tomko cut the ribbon on the new sanctuary with a reminder that God's faithfulness had carried the church through its first fifteen years.
The decade that followed was a season of growth, especially among young people. A discipleship ministry called Genesis formed to mentor the youth and out of it grew a passion for both domestic and international missions. In 1995 Pastor Leo's son Randy Tomko became Lead Pastor and the congregation voted to change its name to Rockpointe Community Church. The new name was meant to signal openness to anyone sincerely seeking Jesus, no matter their church background. "Rockpointe" comes from Matthew 16:18 - upon this rock I will build my church - and "pointe" represents the moment in a person's life when the choice is made to follow Christ once and for all.
The building expanded in 2004-2005 to add gathering space and to completely overhaul the children's education wing. At the groundbreaking the congregation pounded wooden stakes into the construction site with family names and the names of people they hoped would one day come to know Christ; those stakes were later worked into an art piece that still hangs in the sanctuary. In 2018 Rockpointe marked its 50th anniversary alongside the city of Sterling Heights, and in the fall of 2025 the community gathered again to celebrate paying off the mortgage for the expansion. Together they rededicated the building with the words, We present this building, its furnishings, and those who worship here unto our God. His it rightfully is and to His glory may it ever be used.
Sunday Mornings at Rockpointe
Sunday is the heart of the week. Two identical services run at 9 AM and 11 AM, both featuring dynamic music led by the Worship Pastor and team, followed by Bible teaching from the pastoral staff. The 11 AM service is livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel for those at home or traveling.
During both services, children from infants through sixth grade are dismissed to their own age-appropriate programming. The teaching on Sunday mornings is deliberately conversational, drawing from books of the Bible and walking through doctrine in plain language. Past series have included Why I Believe, Simply Jesus, Hope of the World, Upon This Rock, and Humility, and the audio is published as a podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the church's RSS feed.
Fired Up Faith: Children and Families
The Children's Ministry is built around an outdoor metaphor - a faith adventure where children set out from Base Camp to follow Jesus. Each step of the journey has its own name and age range.
The Nursery welcomes infants up to one year and is set up so parents can attend services without childcare concerns. Voyagers serves one- and two-year-olds with short Bible stories, crafts, and play that introduce the truth that God made them and God loves them. Explorers is for three- and four-year-olds, leaning into the natural wonder and excitement of that age with scripture, worship, and hands-on activities. Pathfinders, for kindergarten through fifth grade, gathers children for large-group teaching and small-group discussion designed to prepare them to make their own ascent of faith. Trailblazers, the sixth-grade ministry, dives into a deeper study of the Old and New Testaments and gives preteens the tools to defend their faith while serving inside the church community.
Alongside the age-graded ministries, the Bridges program serves families of children with special needs. Bridges has a dedicated classroom staffed by a team trained to walk alongside parents and personalize the experience for each child, so that entire families can attend Sunday services together. Questions about any of these ministries can be directed to Family Life Pastor Jeff Brown.
RockpointeYTH: Wednesday Nights for 7th through 12th Grade
RockpointeYTH meets Wednesdays from 7 to 9 PM. The night includes live worship led by a student band, large-group teaching, and small groups organized by grade and gender, all led by trained adult leaders in a secure environment. Beyond the weekly meeting, the youth calendar adds special events, outings, service projects, and mission trips. Contact for the youth ministry goes through rockpointeyth@rockpointe.org and the ministry keeps its own Facebook and Instagram presence under the handle RockpointeYTH.
Light Company: Young Adults 18 to 29
Light Company is Rockpointe's ministry for 18- to 29-year-olds and meets Mondays at 7 PM from September through June. The stated goal is to see young adults become the Church - anchored in Christ, confident in their faith, and engaged in community. Light Company is led under the oversight of Executive Pastor Dwight Eberts. Questions go to lightcompany@rockpointe.org.
Oasis and The Garage: Women and Men
Two adult ministries at the church are intentionally designed for women and men.
Oasis is the women's ministry. Founded and run by women, it exists to refresh, restore, and reinvigorate the soul of women aged 18 and older. The calendar includes guest speakers, retreats, movie nights, crafts and creative projects, service opportunities, book studies, discussion groups, games, and community-building activities. The name itself signals the intent: a place of respite amid the long list of roles women carry. Reach the Oasis team at oasis@rockpointe.org.
The Garage is the men's ministry, run by men, and pitched in language that is plain and practical. In The Garage, men gather, projects get done, and tools are used to build, restore, and transform. Programming runs the same range - guest speakers, retreats, service projects, book studies, discussion groups, and special projects - with a tone shaped by Executive Pastor Dwight Eberts. The Garage team can be reached at garage@rockpointe.org.
Adult Discipleship, Bible Studies, and Discussion Groups
Beyond Oasis and The Garage, the Adult Discipleship umbrella - led by Teaching Pastor Mickey Badalamenti - gathers men and women around the Bible throughout the week. A women's Bible study meets Wednesday mornings from 9:30 to 11:00 AM, with free childcare available with registration; an additional evening session meets Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. A men's Bible study meets Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Saturday morning discussion groups meet the first and third Saturdays of each month at 8 AM, walking through life's challenges in a relaxed, Bible-based format. Short video devotionals are also posted to Facebook on Wednesdays.
Community Care: Meeting Needs and Mending Hearts
A cluster of pastoral-care ministries extends the church's reach beyond Sunday mornings.
The Gentle Care Ministry is an extension of the pastoral team. Made up of health care professionals and other skilled members, GCM visits the ill, homebound, hospitalized, and bereaved, offering prayer, comfort, counseling resources, and health education. Prayer Support is open to anyone in the community, with a prayer team that receives requests and prays over each one individually.
The Rockpointe Pantry sits at the north end of the Concourse and provides food support to families in the Rockpointe community when times are tough. During the 2020 pandemic the Pantry expanded its offerings to include weekly deliveries and refrigerated goods, supporting families hit by COVID-related economic hardships. Share Your Portion brings short-term meal delivery to Rockpointe members and regular attendees during major life events - illness, hospitalization, loss, or the arrival of a new baby. Nehemiah's Toolbox takes its name from the Old Testament builder and tackles short-term home repair and restoration projects for Rockpointe members and regular attendees facing critical needs without the resources to meet them. Recipients and volunteers for both Share Your Portion and Nehemiah's Toolbox must be official members or regular attendees.
Handprints: A Preschool in the Building
Rockpointe is home to Handprints Christian Early Learning Center, the church's daycare and preschool program. Handprints serves nearly a hundred families every year and is built around the conviction that Jesus should be at the center of a child's earliest education. Families interested in Handprints reach the school through its own website at handprints.org.
Detroit Bible Institute: A Sterling Heights Campus
Since 2012 Rockpointe has hosted the main campus of the Detroit Bible Institute, a school whose mission is to develop world-impacting Christian leaders through biblical, theological, and ministerial training that is high-quality, affordable, and accessible. DBI is supported by a strategic partnership of local churches - Bethesda Christian Church, Fellowship Chapel, Hope Community Baptist Church, Stoney Creek Church, and Rockpointe Community Church - and the Sterling Heights campus has served more than 1,400 students and 142 graduates from more than 75 different churches. Teaching Pastor Mickey Badalamenti serves as the DBI Campus Coordinator.
Strategic Partnerships: Osborn, Compassion, and Costa Rica
Missions are a core value at Rockpointe, and the church maintains a small set of long-term partnerships in addition to its shorter outreach work.
The Osborn Strategic Partnership is a long-term commitment to Detroit's Osborn neighborhood. Rockpointe's office at Osborn High School is staffed by a partnership director - Erika Beal - who coordinates volunteers of every experience level. Work in the Osborn community ranges from prayer teams to service days, reading mentorship, tutoring, and robotics team support, with a goal of seeing both the spiritual and physical transformation of the neighborhood.
Compassion Pregnancy Center is a life-affirming ministry that provides no-cost pregnancy tests, 2D and 3D ultrasounds, education on fetal development and parenting, healthy relationship support, post-abortion healing, and Bible study. Rockpointe supports Compassion through prayer, funding, and material donations.
Church of the City - Iglesia de la Ciudad - ministers in an economically depressed area of San Jose, Costa Rica, under Pastor Miguel Rojas. Rockpointe supports the church through prayer, finances, and short-term mission teams that assist with construction and medical projects. Past mission work has reached Russia, the Philippines, Australia, England, Senegal, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and a long list of domestic partners.
What Rockpointe Believes
The church describes itself as nondenominational and bases its teaching on the Bible as the sole authority for faith and practice. The full statement of faith affirms the Bible as the unique, full, and final authority on all matters of faith and practice, infallible and inerrant in its original manuscripts. There is one true God, eternally existing in three equal persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Salvation is entirely by God's free grace, received through repentance and faith, and is not the result of human works.
Jesus Christ, the eternal second person of the Trinity, was miraculously conceived and born of a virgin, lived in perfect obedience, died on the cross as the substitute for sinners, rose physically from the dead, ascended to the Father's right hand, and will return personally and visibly. The Holy Spirit indwells every believer, renewing the mind, empowering obedience, and giving gifts for the building up of the church.
Two ordinances are observed. Water baptism by immersion is a public declaration of faith and an act of obedience, available at Rockpointe for believers aged 13 and up and typically celebrated on Good Friday and Thanksgiving Sunday. Communion, or the Lord's Supper, is observed regularly as a community act of remembrance of Christ's broken body and shed blood.
On family and life questions the Elders have adopted two published position papers - one on the Sacredness of Life, Sexuality, and Human Relationships (2015) and one on the Church and Political Engagement (2019) - both available through the church. Membership is open to those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and is preceded by the Rockpointe Membership Class, a two-part process that combines an online course with an in-person lunch and conversation with Lead Pastor Randy Tomko.
The Pastoral Team
Randy Tomko has served Rockpointe since 1984 - first as Youth Pastor, now as Lead Pastor. A graduate of Evangel University and Wheaton College, he provides overall direction for the staff and core leadership, develops Sunday service themes, and shapes the strategic goals of the church.
Dwight Eberts, Executive Pastor, brings a background in business and a Ministry Leadership Certificate from Moody Bible Institute. He leads the men's ministry (The Garage) and Light Company and serves on the Elder Board.
Mickey Badalamenti, Teaching Pastor, oversees adult discipleship - large groups, small groups, and churchwide prayer - and serves as the Detroit Bible Institute Campus Coordinator.
Jeff Brown, Family Life Pastor, oversees children's ministry, Handprints Christian Early Learning Center, and special events for children, youth, and families.
Aaron Blank, Youth Pastor, leads RockpointeYTH, including teaching, discipleship, activities, service projects, and missions for students in grades 7 through 12.
Jake Sciacchitano, Worship Pastor, leads the church's worship teams and develops musicians and vocalists for Sunday services and special events.
Erika Beal serves as the Osborn Strategic Partnership Director, coordinating Rockpointe's long-term investment in Detroit's Osborn community out of an office at Osborn High School.
Weddings at Rockpointe
Weddings at Rockpointe are open to members and regular attendees and are preceded by a deliberate preparation process. Couples begin by picking up or downloading a wedding packet, completing a wedding checklist, and submitting it to the church office. A pastor then reviews the materials and schedules a pre-marriage interview. The full program - called Prepare to Last - includes the Prepare inventory, a pre-marriage class, and several mentorship sessions with the pastoral staff. A six-month runway between the start of preparation and the wedding date is required.
Rockpointe pastors will also officiate vow renewals and, with pastoral availability, offsite weddings. An outside pastor of like faith who is licensed in Michigan may also officiate at Rockpointe. Wedding coordinators assist with the ceremony, and musicians from the church are available for an additional fee. The full FAQ and the online wedding checklist are available through the church.
Child Dedication and Water Baptism
Two milestone ceremonies are offered to families and believers beyond Sunday services. Child Dedication Celebrations are scheduled for the second and fourth Sundays of select months and take place individually during either the 9 AM or 11 AM service. The dedication is a public commitment by parents to raise their child in the truths of Scripture and to faithfully participate in Sunday worship together. At least one parent must commit to the vows; the church encourages dedications before a child's second birthday.
Water Baptism services are typically held on Good Friday and Thanksgiving Sunday and are open to believers aged 13 and up who have made a personal decision to follow Jesus Christ. The baptism itself is by immersion, symbolizing the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and is a public profession of faith rather than a means of salvation. Parents who baptized their children as infants are invited to be baptized as adults as the fulfillment of their parents' original wishes.
Getting Connected and Giving
Visitors who want to know more before arriving can read the Planning Your Visit FAQ or send a note to welcome@rockpointe.org. The church publishes a weekly email with news, events, and announcements; subscription is available from the homepage. Giving is handled online through PushPay, or by texting "Give" to (877) 603-3397. Sunday messages are archived on the church's Messages page and are also available as a podcast through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the church's RSS feed. Prayer requests can be submitted online, and a Gentle Care follow-up can be requested from the same form.
Across all of these ministries, the same phrase keeps coming back: Love God. Love others. The rest will follow. It is the motto on the homepage, the standard for the children's curriculum, the test for a wedding interview, and the line that runs through the long history of a church that began in an elementary school gym in Sterling Heights more than half a century ago.