"The "Rock" refers to Christ, not Jesus' friend Peter. "
Its great that we have you here to interpret scripture for us.
You apparently know a lot more than the folks who have believed otherwise for the last two thousand years.
It's true that millions believe (wrongly) as you do. Millions more correctly interpret this verse as Jesus' commending Peter for recognizing Him as the Lord, and upon that recognition, upon Christ himself, will the Church be built. There is no "rock" but Christ, after all.
Take a look at this page, which explores this verse quite thoroughly, from both a biblical and historical perspective:
http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=2701
And as this page asserts -- http://www.gpcredding.org/petra.html -- "The Greek text does not teach that Peter is the rock. The rock is either Peter's confession of Christ, or Christ Himself, in Peter's answer to Jesus' earlier question 'Who do men say that I the Son of man am?'"
You understand that the words "rock" and "rock" in that verse are actually two different words in the original language?
It's very difficult to have both historical and biblical facts come against a core doctrine in your faith. I encourage you to consider revising your doctrine in light of the truth, my friend.
Here Christ was using Peter's own name to emphasize the esteemed position he was bestowing upon this apostle, and some folks just lose it in the translation.