Beautiful old church built between 1875 and 1895, had a major fire in 2001 has been rebuilt, and is…read morein the process of rebuilding the church and doing work on it to this day. Very ornamental church beautiful Stainglass windows a beautiful Alter area. Old wooden pews down the aisle. Built in a traditional cross shape. A wonderful place downtown and a great place for a celebration like Christmas.

I had only been to this church one other time many many years ago for a wedding. I only remembered…read moreit by its beauty, but thought due to the fire that there's no way it could be restored. Much to my surprise, I had a wedding there recently and the interior is still unbelievably beautiful. It really should be a must see on itineraries for those who like to visit churches and those who like to attend mass while out of town. The church is nestled in an area downtown that has seen few updates, but don't let that deter you from visiting.

Lakeview has became the church we visit most often. I love how welcoming they are and how diverse…read morethe church is. The pastors are all wonderful. Lately they have been doing the "At the movies series" where they take a movie and relate it to the word. I truly enjoy these times as it is a very modern way to teach and learn, along with being entertaining. The church turns into a movie theater by dimming the lights, playing snippets of the movie, and offering a snack (bag of popcorn) and water. It is enlightening to take a movie and relate it to the Bible. How amazing? Also, the main lobby has several photo op stations set up which to me is super cool and fun. Pics for memories right?!? Services on Sunday are offered at 9a & 11a. Greeters are usually present upon entering and a coffee stand is located in the main lobby for self service. I love how they offer coffee because I usually don't get my daily dose before church. There is a cafe on the main floor, south end of the building, but I have yet to check it out. This church provides a separate area for babies, preschoolers, grade schoolers and junior high aged kids which is nice because the service can be catered for that specific age. They have two levels. The main auditorium has seating on the first floor and the balcony on the second floor, plenty of seating to accommodate everyone. During Covid, they do have restrictions with every so many seats blocked off. Restrooms are available on the main floor, with a mother nursing room located in the women's restroom. Worship occurs at the beginning of church with singing and musicians. Service can last about an hour and a half. The end of service follows with more worship and optional praying with prayer partners. They offer many services for out reach and being involved in the community. They also offer classes to grow spiritually and become more connected.

People helping their communities, these individuals are out in the rain, to hand out food to their…read moreneighborhood. Would like to make sure and thank all of them for their caring. I can't believe the turn out, so many people in need.

I love my church is the best church in the world. I love my pastor, Jeffrey Johnson, Eastern, Star…read moreChurch is awesome.

Wow! Nothing but God could be responsible for the new Cooper Road location. It's an $11 million…read morefacility with capacity to seat 3000 for a single service. Eastern Star started building when they could only secure $3 million and four banks had turned them down, despite being able to pay off the multimillion dollar renovation of the east campus in less than six years on a fifteen year loan. So credit wasn't the issue, but faith from banks was. How, in this difficult economic climate was a church going to build a satellite location on the northwest side of Indianapolis when they've only collected a third of the funds needed to complete the project? One of the world's most dynamic preachers and leader of Eastern Star Church, Reverend Jeffery A. Johnson, Senior, brought together some of the best talent in the country and helped to glorify the vision in a building campaign. Fifth Third Bank staff soon saw the greatness in Eastern Star's faith and quickly signed onto the building campaign and fully funded the construction. The result is breathtaking and a much needed community center for this older, poorer part of the northwest side that for many decades sat in the middle of unincorporated farmland Indianapolis. This new church will help start the way forward for this community. Thank you, Eastern Star for your faith in the west side community! PS: Eastern Star's west side campus in the Park 100 warehouse was the original church I joined. It was hard to see that vision then, but I am happy for the west side faithful who waited for almost ten years for this building! I am not a member of Eastern Star, but part of the extended family of seed church plants from years ago. If you have a chance to check out Pastor Johnson preach, do so immediately. He is awesome!

I've been weaving my way through some Indianapolis faith communities, partly out of curiosity and…read morepartly out of a genuine search for the next stop on what has been a long and diverse faith journey. I have intentionally chosen to visit communities that challenge my own personal theology in big and small ways. While I was baptized Catholic as an infant, my mother moved away from Catholicism and all I was largely left with was an authentic curiosity and an openness to learning while also recognizing that it seems like an awful lot of my true mentors in life have been of the Catholic faith. I've visited four Catholic parishes in Indy - St. Joan of Arc, St. Matthew, St. Thomas Aquinas and this church, Immaculate Heart of Mary. My first visit to Immaculate Heart occurred on a Sunday when the speaker was a guest and the parish's actual priest was not present. While I left quite impressed with the parish's atmosphere and friendliness, I had a desire to return for "Father Bob." Immaculate Heart is what could definitely be considered a "neighborhood" parish. Located at 56th & Central, the area is a predominately white area, mostly middle to slightly upper class and seemingly dominated by families and aging couples. This parish is within probably a couple miles of both St. Joan of Arc and St. Thomas Aquinas, yet the differences within the personalities of each parish are pronounced and remarkable. They all have their strengths and challenges. To be fair, I do not live in this neighborhood. In fact, regardless of how I travel I go through at least one parish to visit Immaculate Heart. Upon my first visit, I unexpectedly ran into a friend at the Mass. I knew she attended Immaculate Heart, but also knew she typically went to an earlier service. Her hospitality on my first visit made that first visit warmer and quite welcoming and got me introduced to others. I was impressed with the accessibility of the church - from a magnificent concrete ramp to automated doors to roomy aisles and even a ramp to the side allowing access to the altar area. They've clearly made an effort to be welcoming. I was also impressed with their audio system, which made hearing each speaker crystal clear despite the massive structure of the church. I'm not aware if the church offers any sort of audio adaptive aids for those in need. I returned this past week and was able to hear Father Bob, who began at Immaculate Heart in 2007 and is clearly adored by his parish. I'd heard from one friend that it was Immaculate Heart that ultimately was so welcoming that he converted to Catholicism, while multiple friends had praised Father Bob as a speaker. They were right. He's friendly, relaxed, engaging and yet quite intelligent. He speaks without notes, yet it feels fresh and vibrant and witty. I was able to meet him briefly after the service and found him similarly engaging in person. The church was just as welcoming without my previous friend present, as I'd intentionally gone to a different service (though, ironically, ran into another acquaintance). The church longs for diversity, such as is present at Thomas Aquinas, yet acknowledges the difficulty of having that in their current setting. They are humble, perhaps even a little self-deprecating, yet obviously seeking to live into their faith. I really love looking at their website that describes their wide ministry outreach and includes a page for those in some sort of crisis. It even includes the local crisis hotline phone number. Bravo. I don't know that I consider Immaculate Heart an option for a "home," especially as I do have some challenges with Catholic theology, but I am aware I loved this visit and everything about Immaculate Heart from the church to the people to the pastor and the steeple (c'mon, I had to rhyme). As a fun note, it was actually in 1981 that the church's steeple crashed to the ground in front of the church during high winds. Fortunately, no one was hurt. While I've appreciated things about each of the four parishes I've visited, I must confess that Immaculate Heart of Mary has kind of won my heart.

I was invited here by one of the church members to come and checkout the church service. When I had…read morearrived they had parking lot greeters that that greeted you as soon as you turned into the parking lot. After parking and walking into the building I was greeted by people inside. One lady had explained to me the service. I love how everyone was so friendly in the church. There were people introducing their self. I had came here by myself but I did not feel awkward due to the warm welcomes. The church service was quick which they did praise worship and then the church sermon. After it was over I got to talk to one of the church volunteers afterwards and they told me more about the church. They even showed me the coffee shop which was nice. This church is a big church but they have multiple locations. There are two different service times at this location.

I broke down on the side of the road right off the highway. The intersection at any point in time…read moreis busy and unpredictable. I luckily had several people help push my car to this church parking lot. When I arrived after being pushed here to not be able to drive off there were 4 cars out in the parking lot. Slowly they started to leave until the last gray SUV no one asked me if I was okay instead THEY CALLED THE POLICE ON ME. I was walking outside my car on the phone with several people trying to get help. Crazy how I was in a church parking lot and not a single person asked me anything. It's sad. I had to explain to the officers that I wasn't doing anything illegal that I was waiting for a tow truck. Here's a bible verse for yall Philippians 2:4 look it up truly so sad what I experienced here..

After trying more than 2 months to find a church home after moving to the westside - I found Hope…read moreBaptist Church. It is a perfect fit for me. Pastor H preaches the Word of God from the King James Bible, the congregation is not too big and everyone is friendly.

Thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ working in the hearts and lives of the people that visit Indy's…read moreWestside each week. We make sure that whoever comes to visit our church feels welcomed & loved by our church family. Amazing messages brought by Pastor Jerry as we stay with the "old time religion" while focusing on today's issues. Please be our honored guest & we look forward to seeing y'all here worshiping with us!!

I did not feel very welcomed at all when I went there and it was my first time no one greeted meread more

My husband and I had to have tried more than a half a dozen churches together before we made our…read morehome here at this church. Everyone at this church is friendly! Our church is growing, however it is still the perfect size because you are always able to see a familiar face and recognize someone making you feel less uncomfortable and much more at home. We also have 2 children and our oldest who is 2 absolutely loves his class. There is never any tears and we could not be happier with our choice!

Only church I have ever been to that I truly feel at peace. The most non judgemental, loving,…read morecharacter building, uplifting, real church, teaching the love of Jesus and not love of religion. I did the religious thing, I was raised Catholic. I have learned more about Jesus and our God here than I ever did the years attending Catholic school where I was taught religion, not how our God loves us and sent his only son to die on a cross for us. Amazing place teaching amazing grace.