Going to Church in Indianapolis

From the time my family moved to Indianapolis until the time I left there, we attended church in two different locations so today while out being nostalgic we stopped at both of the old buildings.  The oldest building can be seen at this link.

The newer church was completed in about March 1957.  It was special to me because I was the first person baptized there.  The exterior of the building was made of Bedford limestone from Indiana.  Each block of stone had to be individually faced.  Most of the work of facing and laying the stone was done by my father and about 4 other men.  They all had other jobs, but came faithfully after work to do the stone until it was complete.  It was a large, 2 story building and took many hours of work.

   The stonework has become discolored, but they eventually plan to pressure wash it to make it nice again.  The facing marks on the stones are visible.


  When we stopped by there today to take a picture of the building, we were pleasantly surprised to find someone there who was willing to allow us to go inside to see the renovations they had made and remember the good old days.

  When the building was sold in the late 70s or early 80s, it was purchased by a group which called it Mother Sanders Temple affiliated with the Church of God in Christ.

The original chapel portion of the building had an area on the second floor with large windows overlooking the chapel.  It was used as a 'cry room' for mothers with fussy babies who wanted to observe the service without disturbing other worshipers.

We could not take pictures of the bottom part of this room as the old chapel is now being used as a day care center, and of course, we couldn't take a picture that might have any of the children in it.

In that same room, our guide, Lucy, pointed out that the original sound system is still there.

The pulpit area is gone.

The half wall still exists between the old chapel and the cultural hall, but the upper half now has folding doors that open horizontally rather than the doors that opened in the middle to the top and bottom.  The old cultural hall is now the chapel because it has more room.  Permanent overflow seating has now been installed on the stage of the hall as well.  In lieu of stained glass windows, they have used colored paper to create a stained glass effect.  The end furthest from the chapel now has a sort of low stage area with places for choirs, musicians, etc. to perform.

One of the pictures in their chapel is of their founders, Mother Sanders and her husband, Pastor Sanders.

The kitchen has a nice commercial stove in it now.

The old Relief Society room at the end of the building is primarily used as a food pantry.  The baptismal font is still there and is still used.

The original steeple has been removed from the building.  The congregation has big plans to build a large new part of the church in front of the old one which necessitated removing the front entrance to attach beams for the new building.  They don't want to have a mortgage for the new addition, so it is slow going to raise the money.  Therefore, the front area is very unfinished.

Here you can sort of see where they have attached the new portion to the old building.

Two pictures of the new portion they hope to complete someday.

It was good to see that the old building is still being put to good use.  Lucy commented that they have never had any problems with the stone structure, so Dad and his friends must have done a good job!