The change occurred a few months ago when a building that has housed nightclubs, including Club Lucid, and a wrestling outfit was purchased by Victory World Outreach Church.

“We basically turned the club into a sanctuary,” said pastor Blake Andrews.

The building’s location next to another bar nearly caused problems with the church’s certificate of occupancy. Andrews said a city inspector called him after inspecting the building and told him a church could not be located within so many feet of a bar.

But the inspector stayed after work and got permission to have the church there.

“They said you can be there as long as you know the bar is there and you are OK with it,” Andrews said.

“We’re not afraid to be next to the bar,” he said. “We hope those people come over here.”

Beer bottles are often found in the parking lot outside the church, he said.

“Our call is to reach people that a lot of people don’t want to reach,” Andrews said. “I don’t believe God wants religion, he wants a relationship.”

He said being next to a bar might turn away some traditional-minded people, but his church isn’t trying to reach those people — it is trying to reach people who are searching.

“We love that people walk out of that bar every single day and see Jesus,” Andrews said. “We love that. And it’s lit up at night.”

But he said he isn’t sure how long the church will meet in the Fort Worth Drive location because it’s growing rapidly. The church sees an average of 100 people at each service.

Victory World Outreach started meeting in July 2008 with 15 people congregating in the pastor’s house. The church moved to a building on Londonderry Lane, where it met until July. That 2,200-square-foot space was the size of the stage at the church’s current location.

The building still includes the bar from its previous days as a club, and the congregation is painting brighter shades on the black walls in what is now the nursery.

Andrews spent 10 years as a missionary in Costa Rica, then returned to Denton to start his church. When he got here, his next-door neighbor was Paul Garza, who’s now the church’s youth outreach director.

Garza called himself a recovering alcoholic who grew up involved in gangs and selling drugs.

One night away from the crowd caused him to renounce that lifestyle. That night, some of his fellow gang members shot and killed a person, ending up with 60-year prison sentences, Garza said.

He later learned that a church had been praying for him.

“I was able to walk away from that stuff with no repercussion,” Garza said.

From that day forward, he desired to serve God and share his story to let people know there’s hope, Garza said.

Andrews said there are similar stories from people in his congregation. He said he’s never dealt with substance problems himself, but has always felt called to help people struggling with them.

“I am a white boy who has always been in the projects,” Andrews said. “That’s just where I felt led.”

At 7 p.m. Fridays, the church offers a program called Breakaway for those recovering from drug and alcohol problems. The program is led by Eric Calloway, who has dealt with both addictions.

At the front of the church stands a cross with chains, handcuffs, a cigarette box, bandanna and sticky notes. The display serves as a visual reminder that people can leave their struggles and addictions at the cross and break free from them.

Andrews said his church lets anyone in as long as they respect the church. He said he allows drunken people to attend services, as long as they don’t bother anyone.

“I don’t think the church could ever get to a place where it tells people they can’t come in the door,” Andrews said.

That, he said, would be like an emergency room saying a person is too bloody to be allowed in.

“You go to the emergency room because you’re hurt,” Andrews said, “and I think the church needs to be open for people like that.”