That dream is becoming a reality after the Middletown Planning Commission recently approved plans for Bishop II to open a religious place of worship on the 8.6-acre parcel formerly occupied by Cinema 10, a closed movie theater on Dixie Highway that faces Roosevelt Boulevard.
Bishop II, former pastor at Solid Rock Church in Monroe, said he purchased the property for $810,000, plus a 10% buyer’s fee at auction.
The property sold for $1.1 million in 2018 and $990,000 in 2024, according to the Butler County Auditor’s office.
In 1989, Bishop II was part of the Middletown Evangelistic Center off Breiel Boulevard, behind the Taco Bell. The church was located inside a former bus garage and since it was painted blue, it was called the “blue church,” he said.
Bishop II said that church was extremely successful at reaching underserved Middletown residents, whom he called “unchurched people.”
He hopes The Altar, the name of his new church, will serve the same purpose.
“I like the city vibe,” he said. “I have a heart for Middletown.”
Plans call for one of the walls between two movie theaters that each seat about 350 to be removed, making room for a 700-seat sanctuary. If additional seating is needed in the future, Bishop II said more walls could be removed.
He wants to have the extensive remodel complete and the church open sometime next spring.
Bishop II, 59, has attended other churches located in former movie theaters and he likes the way the congregation that sits above the stage can “focus on what’s in front of them.”
The church’s motto is “Heal, Grow and Go,” he said.
“There is a lot of broken people who need healed in church,“ he said. ”There has been a lot of church trauma.“
Bishop II said he didn’t want to discuss what led to him leaving Solid Rock, a mega-church led by his mother, Pastor Darlene Bishop.
But he said his church will not be in “competition with other churches” to see who can have the largest Sunday services.
Some churches, he said, are more concerned with “Christians entertaining Christians” than addressing community needs.
The name of the church, The Altar, was the idea of his wife of 17 years, Saleena.
He attended a church that wanted to extend its stage for more entertainment, so it eliminated its altar. His church will concentrate on the altar, he said.
“The altar is where you make a trade, your sins for forgiveness, your sickness for healing,” he said. “A church without an altar is nothing more than a social club.”
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