Common Ground Christian Church

After nearly 20 years in this building, we have an opportunity to prepare it thoughtfully for the next chapter of ministry at Common Ground Midtown. The campaign addresses aging systems, while improving the spaces where children and students are formed, where people worship and build relationships, where neighbors gather, and where community partners serve.

Several major building systems need significant investment, while our spaces also need to better support the ways ministry and community life happen today. Addressing these needs together allows us to plan strategically and invest in the building as a whole, rather than responding to one need at a time.

Our building is a tool for ministry. It supports worship, discipleship, relationships, community gatherings, partnerships, and service throughout the week. The campaign is about helping our physical space better support the kind of church we believe God is calling us to be.

We sense that God continues to affirm us deepening our roots at 46th and Illinois and stewarding well what has already been entrusted to us. At this time, it is most financially responsible for us to better utilize the space we already have through creative redesign that increases how often and how flexibly the building is used by our congregation and community.

The plan was developed through input from congregants, staff, ministry leaders, architects, construction professionals, the planning team, and the elders. Congregational discernment helped refine the plan into a $1.2 million scope focused on generational impact, hospitality, mission, and stability.

The elders have approved the $1.2 million campaign budget and corresponding scope of work. Some details—including final design choices, project sequencing, timing, and construction costs—will continue to develop as the project moves forward.

We are still working through the phasing details. A number of factors are being considered, including project timing, cost-efficient sequencing, and the impact on the congregation and outside groups that use the building.

The approved plan includes improvements to children’s and youth ministry spaces, restrooms and accessibility, gathering and meeting spaces, wayfinding and outdoor areas, and important building systems such as HVAC, sanctuary audio and lighting, and structural repairs. Together, these projects strengthen how the building serves both our congregation and our neighbors.

For a detailed description by area, read the Project Details document on our website.

Our children’s ministry rooms are currently generously sized. In order to continue offering a space where every child can share and be known, we are not looking to make the rooms bigger. Instead, our children’s ministry team would love to increase capacity by growing the number of rooms we offer during the 11 AM service.

Patterns Early Learning Center is a separate nonprofit organization planning to make its home at Common Ground Midtown in August 2027. Campaign improvements are designed to benefit our own ministry needs, while also being thoughtful to meet licensing requirements so additional spaces can serve children and families in the neighborhood as Patterns grows.

The new youth room will provide middle and high school students with a consistent space that feels like their own, with furnishings and elements that can remain in place from week to week. 

Youth will still use larger areas of the building when needed for teaching, activities, and whole-group gatherings.

Although we have plans to resurface the parking lot, we do not plan to increase its footprint. To create a more welcoming and accessible parking experience, we will ask those in our congregation who are able to park on the street so that parking lot spaces remain available for guests and for anyone who needs accessible, flat, no-step access.

Yes. Heritage Place leases space for senior programming, and organizations including Central Indiana Young Lives, Beloved Community Co-op, TogetherIndy, and SHarP Community Garden regularly use our facility. We also host a variety of one-time gatherings and events.

Financial stewardship has shaped the project from the beginning. The approved scope was refined based on priorities, congregational feedback, and fundraising capacity. Responsible financing remains one possible tool, but the goal is to avoid creating a burden that significantly reduces resources available for ongoing ministry.

If commitments come in below the campaign goal, leaders will evaluate available resources, project priorities, phasing, and responsible financing options before determining how to proceed. The goal is to make thoughtful decisions rather than assume every project must move forward regardless of available resources.

We hope not. Regular giving supports Common Ground Midtown’s ongoing ministry and operations, while campaign gifts fund significant one-time investments. We encourage everyone to remain faithful in regular giving and then prayerfully consider whether God may be inviting them into additional generosity toward the campaign.

There is no single right amount, and we are not asking everyone to give equally. We invite individuals and households to pray about what God has entrusted to them and what generosity might look like in this season. Our hope is faithful participation, rather than comparison or pressure.

Advance commitments help leaders plan a multi-year project responsibly. They provide a clearer picture of expected resources and help inform decisions about timing, project sequencing, and financing. A commitment is not a legal obligation or a measure of someone’s faithfulness; it is an expression of intent based on what you know today.

We still want you to be part of the campaign. People’s financial circumstances differ, and the significance of someone’s participation cannot be measured by the size of a gift. Prayer, encouragement, engagement, and service are also meaningful ways to participate.

We intend to provide regular updates about campaign commitments and giving, project timing, construction progress, significant decisions, and meaningful changes to costs or financing. We also want you to continue to ask questions throughout the process.

We hope our building will be more welcoming, accessible, flexible, reliable, and useful not only on Sundays, but also throughout the week for our neighbors and partners. More importantly, we hope it becomes easier for people to belong, children and students to be formed, neighbors and partners to gather, and more of our resources to be directed toward ministry. The building is the tool; the life that happens within it and extends from it is the reason for the investment.