The Church of 8 Wheels, a rollicking disco roller party presided over by the Rev. David Miles Jr., may soon be silent. The weekend worshipers who meet in an abandoned Catholic church on Fillmore Street were notified Friday, March 6, by the building owners that a variance is being sought to develop the property into housing.

Notice of a public hearing scheduled at City Hall on March 25 was posted around the neighborhood Friday. If it is approved, the church will have to close, ending a six-year run of skating under stained glass that has introduced thousands — maybe hundreds of thousands — to the joys of roller skating round and round to old-school funk music.

“This has been fantastic. I don’t ever want it to end,” said Miles, following the regular kids and family session on a sunny afternoon Saturday, March 7. “But ever since we have been here, this has been looming over our heads.”

When Miles started the church, while being ordained by the Universal Life Church, he was told by his landlords that he had two years maximum before the property was developed. But that was six years ago, and he hopes to get another two years even if the variance is approved.

Meanwhile, he is already looking for another empty church with wooden floors to skate on. They aren’t that hard to find. Last year, Star of the Sea closed its school on Geary Boulevard at Eighth Avenue in the Richmond. There is also an empty church in the Mission District.

Rink manager and assistant pastor Daniel Albert Chytrowski, while skating around the church floor during a Saturday birthday party in a gold shirt and hat, said he has faith that the business won’t disappear. “At least we have a while to find a new place. There are a lot of churches around.”

The landlord for the church did not immediately respond to The Chronicle a request for comment.

The Church of 8 Wheels started with all-day Sunday sessions in the designated area called “Skatin’ Place” on the northern edge of Golden Gate Park. That meeting has been going for 40 years and will continue regardless of what happens to the indoor sermons.

Miles, 64, started the indoor rink as a way to monetize the free outdoor church and make a living off it. “I never had a door that people walk through before,” he said. The entry fee of $15 for adults and $10 for children covers a two-hour session for families and four hours in the evening sessions for adults only. Miles supplies the skates and just bought 300 pairs to bring his total to 475.

The skates go with him, to Burning Man every year, and most recently to Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture for a “Skating on Art” installation that ran for three weeks and introduced thousands to the church.

“It was a huge success,” he said. “People still talk about it.”

The Church of 8 Wheels is now more of a movement than a location. Miles sees the future and it is a portable roller rink that he can assemble anywhere, providing a level wooden rectangle that is 120 feet long by 60 feet wide. He’s trucked it to Las Vegas and is headed to Chattanooga, Tenn., in April.

“It’s not religion, it’s roll-igion. That’s what makes this so special,” he said, working into one of his stem-winders. “It’s like religion you can feel and touch, expressed on wheels.”

Church of 8 Wheels: 5- 7 p.m. (all ages) and 8 p.m.-midnight Fridays; 3-5 p.m. Saturday Family Session; 7-11 p.m. Saturday Adult Session for ages 18 and older; 7-10 p.m. Sunday Night Skate for ages 21 and older. $10 to enter; $5 for skate rentals. 554 Fillmore St., S.F. churchof8wheels.com

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