Great place to worship! Great place to find Christian community. The people are loving and…read morefriendly, and the message is focused on the Word.

First Christian Church is a Disciples of Christ congregation located in Richmond, Indiana. I had…read morethe opportunity to visit the congregation while on one of my fundraising/outreach events and was hosted by the congregation for a meal and Q&A session with its members. The congregation's pastor has been Rev. Cindy Ploughe since 2017. Rev. Ploughe is a former Deputy Attorney General for the State of Indiana turned pastor who graduated from Indy's Christian Theological Seminary. This is her first pastorate. The church has been in Richmond for 160 years with regular worship on Sunday mornings at 10:30am. They are located at the corner of South A Street and South 10th Street with an accessible entrance off of South 10th Street. The building itself is considered accessible and having gone there in a wheelchair myself I would affirm they do remarkably well for having an older building. The congregation seems to be mostly older folks with some mid-life families mixed in. It's a more progressive congregation theologically, a good mix for the Richmond area that includes the Earlham campus and Bethany Theological Seminary (where I attended seminary). The event that I presented was well attended with a courteous and enthusiastic group of people. I was amazed by their generosity of spirit and resources. I would easily return again - the worship style leans toward sort of a casual contemporary with formal hymns. There are some musicians in the congregation. The church itself is quite beautiful and there were several hours that were meditative and peaceful. They've clearly done some updates to increase accessibility. As the congregation tends to be smaller and older, their social media life is pretty light. They do have a Facebook presence and a pretty basic website.

It was only a couple years ago that Richmond, Indiana's Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church was on…read moreIndiana Landmarks' #10MostEndangered list, a signification recognizing the historic church's future being in limbo due to ownership issues and lack of inactivity. However, the Whitewater Valley Presbytery used a $140,000 loan to settle the ownership issues and put the 1906 church back on the path to restoration and recovery as decisions are now being made as to the future of the remarkable church that sits at the corner of 11th and North "A" Street in Richmond. As someone who is in the process of joining a Presbyterian church, I've been exploring its history in Indiana and realized this little icon was in the very city where I attended seminary. The church is considered architecturally significant - designed by Sidney Badgley and William H. Nicklas, the church shares design elements with South Bend, Indiana's St. Paul Memorial United Methodist Church. Building was funded by Daniel G. Reid in memory of his parents. Of course, if you're familiar with the Richmond area then you already know that the Reid name is a common one in the area. The church's interior and windows were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Tiffany Studios. The original Hook and Hastings organ is still in place, though it was rebuilt in 1958. The church actually has a bit of a darker history in Indiana history. In the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was experiencing growth in Indiana in terms of presence and power. In 1922, the Klan was introduced to Richmond by Robert Lyons with recruiting beginning at Reid Church - where years earlier his own father had been pastor. Lyons would eventually become chief of staff for the national organization of KKK. Rev. Lyons is actually buried in the nearby Earlham Cemetery. Membership dwindled and the church closed its doors in 2017 as the few members were simply unable to support such a large church. In 2019, Indiana Landmarks added it to their 10 Most Endangered list. I remember seeing the church on the 10 Most Endangered List and fantasizing about buying it for my own non-profit work. I even checked it out and explored the possibility, though ultimately the scope was beyond my ability. It's exciting to see renewed interest in repurposing this wonderful church building and honoring its history. If you're in Richmond, I definitely recommend checking it out if you get a chance.

I have attended church here for a number of years. We have great music, great teaching and great…read morefellowship. My family lives far away but I definitely have a family bond with the congregation here.

I was here from 2002 to 2004, they lied to my grandparents about everything, the stole their money…read moreand they didn't do anything to help me except Statia Davis, she was the only one that seemed to actually care! There was one other staff as well but I don't remember her name. She had a medical condition that caused her problems with her hands but she was such a sweet woman!

I was a student at the boarding school run by this location. I still suffer from PTSD from my…read morehorrific experiences there including eating well expired food and crushing cockroaches in the bathroom. The psychological abuse has caused damage that i am still trying to recover from over a decade later. These are false Christians. They profited from the suffering of children and the scamming of parents paying over 5k a MONTH in tuition.

This is a very welcoming church, from the first visit and continuing since then. Despite its large…read moresize (100-200 for each of three services on Sunday), you always feel welcomed and included. Traditional service twice on Sundays in the sanctuary, with a beautiful layout and accompanied by a choir. Contemporary service once on Sunday in the fellowship hall, more laid back, with screens and a band.