I visited Aldersgate Free Methodist Church this morning on a whim; having done one church visitation 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. read more