In 2005, we began raising funds for the purpose of expanding our seating capacity. Initially we thought that meant purchasing a bigger building that would seat more people. Our highest desire is to know God and make Him known, and we believe this happens primarily in the context of relationships. As we further considered moving the entire church to one large building we believed that in some cases this could potentially work against fostering deep relationships and ministry on the local (neighborhood) level.

The questions and answers below are intended to speak to the multi-site model as we intend to implement it. We encourage you to talk and pray together with your house church concerning this move. In what ways does this enable our house churches the opportunity to deep relationships? How does it facilitate geographical connections among multiple house churches? How can it impact my neighborhood? How can I contribute personally to this ministry model?

A thumbnail sketch of how we anticipate the multi-site model at Common Ground

• We are actively seeking locations where we could have a Sunday worship service that is more geographically accessible to house churches in that area.
• The goal would be to remain consistent with our current Sunday worship services.

Benefits:

• Resources our house church network where it is growing
• Allows for a more accessible venue for outlying hc’s to invite neighbors
• Allows for more people to be involved at a basic service level in our church
• Reduces the size of your worship experience to people who live closer to you and who you will likely have opportunity to get to know beyond Sunday
• Cost effective compared to one large facility

Challenges:

• Requires people to “step up” in their level of commitment and service, specifically as it relates to things that happen on Sunday (children’s ministry, hospitality, worship, etc.)
• Occasional sermons via video instead of a live preacher 

Does this essentially mean that we’re splitting into multiple churches?

No. In the same way that all of our house churches are part of a larger corporate body, each of the locations for worship on Sunday is part of the same corporate body. We will maintain one eldership, one staff and one house church network.

How will locations be targeted and selected?

We want to focus on areas of the city where there are a significant number of house churches in that area.

What locations are currently being considered?

Later this summer we will be starting a worship site on the west side of town at Eagle Creek Elementary School. For questions about this site please contact Nate Smith at the church office.

What will the church services look like when we move to multiple sites?

As similar to our current worship services as possible. There will be live worship at all locations, and a rotation between live preaching and a recorded sermon from earlier that day.

What are we doing with the building at 61st & Central? Will we still have services there?

As soon as renovations are complete on the new building at 46th and Illinois we will relocate our Midtown services to that building and, at least temporarily, cease to hold services at 61st & Central. We do not plan to sell the building at this time though. Trinity Church will continue to use the building for their church services and will begin utilizing office space for their staff. There are several recovery groups (AA, NA, etc) that will also continue meeting in the building. At the appropriate time in the future we will make a determination of whether we might use the building for another worship site, or whether it would be best to sell the building.

Will Common Ground ask me to attend a specific location?

With the goal of resourcing local house churches and empowering the church at local levels, we will suggest that people who attend the house churches near a worship location attend there on Sunday. In the event that a house church is located in the middle of two different worship locations we will ask the house church to attend the location that helps equally distribute people among the locations.

There will be some situations in which individuals live closer to a worship location than the worship location that is closest to their house church. For these circumstances we do not have all of the answers. We continue to pray through this move and assume continued dependence on the Holy Spirit to guide us.

Will there be times that we all gather together for corporate worship?

Yes. We are tentatively planning to gather the entire church for corporate worship in a single location 2-3 times per year.

What will the children’s ministry look like? Will the house churches need to volunteer more frequently?

We are committed to the spiritual formation of everyone in the family. As we move in the multi-site model we do not have all of the answers for what children’s ministry will look like at each site, other than to say it will be provided. We do anticipate needing more people to volunteer as teachers in the children’s ministry, and anticipate that the house church children’s ministry volunteer rotation could become a little more frequent, at least initially until more house churches are birthed.

How will this affect me?

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Intercessory prayer. Intercessors. Have you ever wondered what it means to be an intercessor? We hear this term frequently in the church today and picture the ultra-spiritual 70 year old woman, kneeling at the altar and crying out to God on behalf of the saints. While that can be a picture of an intercessor, it’s also not the only one. To intercede is to plead with someone in authority on behalf of another person, especially someone facing punishment. So when we as believers go to pray for another, we are pleading with God on their behalf. 

Common Ground’s prayer team is actually no more complicated than this—we are believers coming to the One who has all authority over life, each person’s journey, and even over the enemy. We come to plead on behalf of the church, our mission partners, the needs of the body and one another. We’re simply trying to be obedient to Paul’s command in Ephesians to keep praying for the saints. Would you join us? We meet at our Midtown location in Broad Ripple each Monday (with the exception of Nehemiah Gathering) at 7 pm. If you have any questions, feel free to email pray@cground.org. God has some exciting things on the horizon for Common Ground. Please join us in this foundational ministry as we cry out to God for more of Him.  

The launch of CGCC-West at Eagle Creek Elementary School is rapidly approaching. The church gathered on July 1 for our first Nehemiah Gathering and prayed for the work God is doing in this area of the city. More than 140 adults and 25 kids participated in this time of worship and prayer. Our next Nehemiah Gathering at CGCC-West is set for August 5 at 10 am and we plan to cast vision for the west side and pray together for God’s hand to move. 

On August 19, we’ll launch our corporate worship gathering at ECES. Service will start at 11 am and will include all of the components of a “typical” CGCC worship service – childcare, communion, worship, etc.  There are several ministry areas where volunteers are needed. Two areas of critical need are highlighted below:

Childcare - CGCC-West needs Childcare Teachers across various age groups in order to oversee HC volunteers and help provide a safe, secure loving environment in which children can engage and where parents feel comfortable leaving their child. 

Site Prep – CGCC-West needs Site Prep Coordinators to oversee the efforts of HC volunteers to help ensure that setup/teardown activities run smoothly. 

As you likely know by now, we have started renovating the new building at 46th & Illinois Street. We have removed old fixtures, torn out carpet, disassembled the old ceiling grids, and hauled a lot of debris to dumpsters. Through the combination of volunteer workdays and paid labor the demolition is already complete. 

What work needs to be done?

The scope of renovations is fairly significant. We will be keeping the “shell”, but essentially replacing all of the mechanical components and bringing the building up to date aesthetically. Here is an overview of the planned renovations:

• Replacement of the heating & air conditioning equipment
• Installation of new electrical infrastructure
• New plumbing fixtures
• Fresh paint & new carpet
• Waterproofing the basement by adding a perimeter drain
• New windows

We have been in the process of bidding the various components of work and are close to making final vendor selections. Over the coming weeks and months there will be a great deal of work going on. As part of the renovations there will likely be additional volunteer opportunities such as painting, landscaping and light construction. These opportunities will be communicated extensively, so watch your email, the bulletin and cground.org for announcements.

When will it be finished?

Our hope is that we will be holding worship services in late November.

Check out the pictures below from our Demo Days in June and July.  We accomplished a lot in only two days!

We believe God is clearly leading us to a multi-site model of ministry.  We talk a lot about “being the church” where you are, and one way we can do that is through gathering for corporate worship closer to where we live.  As you know, our first new site is going to be on the west side of town at Eagle Creek Elementary School.  In addition, God provided a facility at 46th & Illinois that will become our new midtown site, replacing the one that currently meets in Broad Ripple. 

Now, we’re coming to you with additional ways to participate.  The first is likely obvious—financial contributions are needed to update the new midtown building, which was constructed in the 50’s.  Updates needed include window replacement and installation of new mechanical components such as plumbing fixtures and heating and air conditioning.  We purchased the building for $500,000, and project renovations will cost $1.7 million, for a total investment of $2.2 million (approximately $80 per square foot).

Secondly, we now have two worship locations driven primarily by volunteer efforts—children’s ministry, preparing communion, running sound, and all the little things that really aren’t little that it takes to make our Sunday gatherings go.  The multi-site model will allow more of us to be involved, perhaps in multiple ways, to make this happen.

So, how do you respond to these needs?  We are asking that each person who is part of our church community to prayerfully consider 2 things:

1. Provide support with a one-time cash gift above and beyond your weekly commitment.  (For those who are not currently committed to the financial support of what God is doing in and through this church, we are asking you to prayerfully consider regular giving.)
2. Investing your time and talents by meeting some of the volunteer needs of the church.  Please download our volunteer brochure to learn how more. 

Ask God to be very specific with you in how you should participate.  This is a great opportunity for all of us to prayerfully consider our participation in the continued ministry of our community.

• When: August 10, 6 pm to 8:30 pm; August 11, 9 am to 1 pm 
• Where: Midtown building and an offsite to be determined
• What: 5 tracks to choose from
• Childcare: A limited number of spaces are available for childcare for children infant through age 6.  Deadline to register and request childcare is July 28.  We will have a waiting list in case there are any cancellations.
• Meals: Snacks will be provided.  No meals will be served.
• Cost: Free