Where do I start? Flew out to North Indianapolis last week and attended service for a dear loved…read moreone last Friday (not yesterday) of this review. The circumstances although only sad for the sake of missing them dearly, but good for knowing they are at peace and at home with the Lord. Thus, a celebration of their life and a great send off of their homecoming. It still makes me me tear up as I type this, again because I loved them as much she loved life and all who knew her. With that said, I wanted to acknowledge this beautiful church and give my heart felt gratitude as to how perfect the service was, the special attention, care and love that went into it. I imagine that to be with every service, situation and in this case, funeral services is treated the same. The sermon, delivered by the pastor, was right on point, emotions were pouring out as most in attendance could not keep a dry eye (yours truly as well), that they had to keep giving me tissues. It was just beautifully spoken and reminded me that they are no longer suffering here, my regret is that I didn't call her for Christmas and that I didn't tell her how much I appreciated her for my girls (granddaughters) and that I loved her. This church made me feel it though. The drive to the cemetery, the graveside service and the reception right after was all done with TLC and done so proper and diligently. It was all done well and you can feel how spiritual and strong their faith was and is. It's a lovely Baptist Church and I was privileged to have gone back to attend. I use to go with her when my oldest was an infant and we had the honor of living with her. The people then (as well as now) treated me so graciously and made us feel at home. And I will be back to visit my girls pa pa and will definitely visit. It's such a beautiful church :) Pues, ¡que Dios te bendiga! (God Bless)

First off - I didn't attend a service here. My review is based on the carnival they put on on the…read more4th of July. It had free hotdogs, drinks, games, bounce houses, cake walk. There was a donation jar that we donated too, but absolutely no pressure to do so. I am giving this congregation the full 5 stars. The people we met were very welcoming and fun to be with. Thank you United Wesleyan Church for the holiday fun!

United Family Wesleyan Church...the name says it all! From the minute you walk in the door, you…read moreare greeted by people and are made to feel like family! I have personally experienced the thoughtfulness and willingness to help by people of this church. Many have been willing to listen to me, spend time with me, whatever it took to get me through some struggles that all of us experience in life. When I have felt alone in my struggles, someone always calls, texts, or shows up to see how I am doing. The pastor is also very caring. He is willing to help those that have genuine and true need! He is willing to spend time with people, to pray with and for people, and to give of his own money! He really cares about EVERYONE in that steps into this church! I have never felt so cared for and prayed over by a pastor since I started going to church 20 years ago! The best way I can describe this church is....genuine and real! The people of this church mean what they say and are not fake! When someone asks, "How are you?", the person who asks is truly interested in how you are doing!

I had the opportunity to attend a Maundy Thursday service at Crooked Creek Baptist Church just…read moresouth of Kessler on North Michigan Road on Indy's Northwestside this evening. It was a joint service with two other nearby churches - Witherspoon Presbyterian and First Mennonite. Crooked Creek is an American Baptist Church, which places it on the progressive end of the Baptist denomination. Crooked Creek just celebrated their 180th anniversary in 2017, though I'm not sure how long they've been at their current location. The building is a rather large church with an education week that I believe is mostly used by a pre-school. The church itself is definitely older - an initial clue that there's going to be some accessibility concerns. A couple things to note immediately in terms of accessibility. For entrance into the sanctuary, you'll want to park in the church's South parking lot and enter the closest door. There's a lift that will take you up one floor into a hallway that leads to the sanctuary. The sanctuary itself has a couple places where the pews have been shortened to allow for wheelchair seating, though the altar area itself is not wheelchair accessible. However, if there's an activity in the basement/dining room styled space then you'll actually have to go around to a different entrance in the back of the building that leads directly into it. So yeah, quite honestly, as much as I enjoyed my time here the chances I'd ever join are slim. The pastor is Mark Pittman. From what I was told, it's a modest-sized congregation of about 50 on Sundays. Tonight's service definitely had a nicer crowd, but you could sure tell the distinct personalities of the three congregations. Crooked Creek definitely skews older, WAY older, and has several retired ministers in its membership. They seem to have a pretty decent sound system. I was also very impressed with the lift - it's a simple, fundamental one but it works and people knew how to use it. There was no fumbling around trying to figure it out - I was helped by one of the very few youths in the congregation and he knew exactly what to do. They did hold a light meal after the service and I got a nice chance to meet many folks. They were a warm, hospitable group and quite funny. My friend, who is LGBT, hasn't joined the congregation but feels accepted there and participates in their choir. The music seems to lean toward more traditional hymns, though given this is Holy Week I doubt I received a true vibe for the regular services. The pastor was a good speaker. He was warm and passionate. While he didn't speak disability inclusive language, the bulletin does include "Stand, as you are able." There was a warm intimacy to the sanctuary. It was dimly lit, lots of wood, and stained glass giving it a sense of isolation despite being in a relatively busy neighborhood. It is definitely an older sanctuary, but it works well for the congregation. The pews are wooden. The accessibility issues alone would likely keep me from ever considering membership, though there was a definite community feeling and it would be a wonderful option for someone older in the area who held somewhat more progressive views. The ability to do stairs would definitely help, though with some extra work you can get into both the sanctuary and the dining area. Ordinarily, I'd probably go 3-stars here based on accessibility issues and my pet peeve of not including disability inclusive language. However, disability inclusive language is a fairly new concept and with the majority of people here quite a bit older it's not particularly surprising and their warmth, hospitality, humor, and embrace of my friend will allow me to move this up to 4 stars.

This place is so welcoming and accepting of all. The members of the church smile and greet you with…read moreease. The service is varied but always has a profound message. Messages from the other side are given in a two part segment as part of the service. My heart always feels full when I leave here.

By now, it's no secret that I've been on a rather extended journey through some of Indy's churches…read moreover the past few weeks and months. I stumbled across the United City website a couple of weeks before their first announced service was to be held a couple months ago at the elementary school gym on the Heritage Christian school campus at 6401 East 75th Street. The worship service is on Sundays at 10:45 am. I've attended United City on a couple of occasions and while I've enjoyed both visits to the recent church plant my gut is telling me that it's just "not quite" what I'm looking for in terms of either sticking around or actually becoming a member. United City is co-pastored by Josh Wagner and Keith Spencer. Both have backgrounds in ministry, though I believe both are relatively young (I'm guessing mid-30's or so) and the demographic of the church definitely seems to skew into that age range with a strong emphasis on younger families. While I did see some older folks, the vast majority of attendees seemed to be young families or within that age range. United City has a strong emphasis on being a multi-cultural congregation, an objective that starts at the congregation's leadership with having both a black and a white pastor. The vision of United City is clearly stated on their website - radical hospitality, refreshing community, sacrificial generosity, and living faith. Strategic partners include Indiana Ministries, Crosspoint, Passion4Planting, New Thing, and Bridgeway Community Church among others. If I have a favorite part of their service, it's honestly the music. I never did quite figure out who the worship leader is, but his passion for leading worship was obvious and I liked that he could live into that passion without turning it into nothing but a performance. The music leans toward a pop/rock sound and both times that I attended a Crowder tune was covered. The band includes guitars, drums and definitely a lot of passion. As someone who got back into the church thanks to Christian punk, the music was definitely one of my favorite things. The worship service seems to last in the 75-90 minute range - I heard both pastors speak on different Sundays and appreciated both sermons for different reasons. Because service is held in an elementary school gym, accessibility is pretty solid. There's accessible parking, a solid curb cut and the gymnasium offers different options for those with mobility issues. Because it is level to the ground, however, be aware that if you sit in the back and are in a wheelchair you won't likely see anything during those times when people stand up. Truth be told, United City is "almost" what I was looking for in a church home. Almost, but not quite. I was greeted warmly during both visits - I should note that my visits were not back-to-back. However, I can't deny that I felt somewhat like an "other." Both pastors made a point of greeting me on both visits. It's hard to miss newcomers. Attendance is still building and it would be practically impossible to just blend in to the crowd. For a just over two month old congregation, they're doing fine in terms of attendance and I can picture their enthusiasm being contagious. However, for lack of a better way to say it I also have to say I never really "connected" with anyone in two visits. Admittedly, I'm a natural introvert and don't do the casual social scene well but at times it just felt a bit awkward. It hasn't always for me in my church visits - so I know that it can be different. While I did connect with one pastor via social media, the simple truth is that because I was older I immediately felt different and there wasn't anything that really happened to help transcend that feeling. I believe United City has some small group options and I know they're very into community service. Overall, I really liked United City. I admire the vision greatly, but it just didn't quite feel like a place that I was going to call home. I may yet visit again, maybe a bit after the whole church plant vibe has calmed down - a vibe I certainly get since I've helped plant a church myself - because I have a feeling I would really enjoy these people. If you're looking for a church home, especially if you're in the area, I'd definitely give United City a visit.

I visited Aldersgate Free Methodist Church this morning on a whim; having done one church…read morevisitation yesterday, I wasn't particularly inclined to do another one and wanted to return to another church close by. However, my April is super swamped and my scheduled return ended up getting interrupted by a hospital visitation. I'd done some web searching for area churches and recalled Aldersgate, part of the Free Methodist denomination, and knew it was close to where I was already at. So, I decided to go. Located at 21st & Post in Indy, Aldersgate is a rather large church. The church building actually houses three separate congregations, though rather interestingly they all fall within the "Free Methodist" movement. They include Aldersgate itself, obviously the host congregation, along with a Chinese congregation that meets in another area of the building and a group called The Gate that meets on Saturday evenings. I did a little bit of reading about Free Methodist prior to my visit just to ensure no unexpected surprises were in store. They struck me as being on a somewhat conservative end of the spectrum, though this comes with a disclaimer that they do ordain women and, in fact, it seems that Aldersgate is entirely female led including senior pastor Julie Gray. They had identified accessible parking, though the wheelchair symbol is significantly faded and the spots themselves aren't quite ADA. That said, I had zero issues finding an appropriate spot. The entryway is level to the ground and the double-sided glass doorway pretty workable. They have greeters who enthusiastically assist when needed. The sanctuary is larger than you'd expect - the aisles are somewhat narrow and I didn't see anything in terms of identified spaces for wheelchairs, but everyone was incredibly gracious and I never got a feeling of being in the way. Truth be told, and I say this guiltily, I kind of forget that today was Palm Sunday. It's an unusual time to visit a church, but in some ways a perfect time because most churches are prepared for those "one Sunday a year" folks. While that's not really me, it does tend to mean that strangers are even more welcome than usual. If there's one thing I work toward strongly, it's making sure that my reviews disregard any theological issues I may have with a church I'm visiting. Unless they're endorsing human sacrifice or other aberrant practices, my reviews reflect my experiences and not the finer theological points. I've visited churches across the theological spectrum, enjoying and not enjoying churches across that same spectrum. I really enjoyed my visit here. Aldersgate is a relatively small, yet warm and welcoming congregation. When word travels, and it does, that there's a visitor, you are warmly welcomed with true introductions. Pastor Julie encourages this openly and she leads by example, introducing herself before the service, ensuring Communion was brought my way, and then touching base after the service with a warm introduction to another congregant of "I want to introduce you to my new friend." She describes herself on their website as a country girl from Minnesota with a heart for the city. This sure seems to be true. Yet, while she was warm and welcoming - I should also note she was a tremendous preacher and a calm pastoral presence throughout the service. While she didn't include the disability inclusive language, she seemed to intentionally make a statement around Communion that made sure anyone new understood their practices. Additionally, even after I'd been hesitant to partake she had zero issues bringing it to me even as I sat toward the back. The congregation seems to skew older, though if you check out social media you'll see a fairly strong children and youth presence. They also have a decent-sized population of African refugees and their sermons are also on their website in Swahili. Music is primarily rather light praise music. The words are shown on a screen. It appears they sometimes have a bigger band - today consisted of vocalist, piano, and guitar. There's a children's time and I must say today was one of the best children's times I've seen. I believe it was led by their children's ministry coordinator and I loved the way she encouraged participation and engagement from the children. Aldersgate offers coffee before and coffee with a light snack after service. They also have a Wednesday evening prayer service and they seem to have multiple events planed for Holy Week. After the service, I was greeted by even more people who very proactively welcomed me to return and were warm and genuine. Being in a very diverse neighborhood, it was especially nice to see a church living into that diversity. I genuinely enjoyed this visit. While this church is a bit far for me, there's absolutely much to love here.

My family has been attending NPUMC since we moved to the community 4 years ago. It is a…read moremulti-generational church that welcomes all people and has relatable sermons. I appreciate the friendships we have made here and love how the church serves the community in many ways, including operating a large child care and youth basketball program. My kids have also enjoyed going on mission trips with the youth group.

Attended Sunday morning service for the first time today. Pastor Brett was on target with the…read moreGospel; so refreshing. We will be attending again this evening. Excited to see what God has in store!