Nestled in the outskirts of Bloomington, Indiana, South Union Christian Church has a history of being a local Church for the people in the community, with over 75 years of rich experiences in connecting people by reaching the lost for Christ and enriching Christians, the Church's continuous growth does not come without dedication to the cause of the Kingdom. Each Sunday service at the Church welcomes people from surrounding cities weekly.

Connecting people in a way that matters

Nestled in the outskirts of Bloomington, Indiana, South Union Christian Church has a history of being a local Church for the people in the community, with over 75 years of rich experiences in connecting people by reaching the lost for Christ and enriching Christians, the Church's continuous growth does not come without dedication to the cause of the Kingdom. Each Sunday service at the Church welcomes people from surrounding cities weekly.

South Union started in a small building attached to a cemetery. You can see the cemetery from the driveway to the new building. I keep thinking it is primed for a Halloween outreach or event, says Pastor Jeremy Clark, the Church's Senior Pastor, joking about the view people see when they arrive at Church. While the old building structure still stands today, it serves as the administrative building, and the new modern-day building serves as the worship center.

With a mission anchored in a commitment to unity, South Union's purpose is defined by winning and committing people to Jesus and preparing them for service in His Kingdom. The Church's expansion in the early 2000s can be traced to its core values. During the new leadership transition, Pastor Clark states that the leadership has emphasized the need to reinforce the Church's values in the hearts of everyone who calls South Union home. He said that the intentionality in getting everyone on board to go beyond just checking things out on Sunday morning is rooted in preparing them for service to the Kingdom.

Pastor Clark further stated that the need for clarity of the mission makes it easier for people to understand where the heart of the Church is. He said those attending for a while should move past coming to Church to check things out and become part of running with the vision. According to him, the leadership has spent a lot of time in the past months casting the vision, mission, and values of the South Union to get the congregation's buy-in. "That is important because this is our driving force to what and why we do all that we do," he said.

In relaying the mentoring mindset approach to outreach, Pastor Clark stated, "A mentor of mine once said, "There is a currency for the Kingdom, and evangelism and discipleship are the two sides to the coin." If one side of the coin is missing, it's no longer a legal tender, which means you can't spend it." He said defining what outreach means to the Church is essential for growth. "We need to define what outreach means to individuals, South Union Church, and the Kingdom of God," he said.

In addition, he stated that South Union makes evangelism and discipleship a rallying point for the Church because of its importance to the growth of the Body of Christ. He understands the struggle of assuming the spiritual health of the congregation by the leaders, which leads to the complacency of people. With the challenge created by the pandemic leading people more inward, Pastor Clark stated that returning to the outreach basics is important. "We don't want to assume people know how to do outreach, so we want to give them practical steps to achieve results. We spend much time talking about it because it's a priority," he said.

Pastor Clark credits the impact of the Church's small group and life group ministries for connecting people in tangible ways. At South Union Church, small groups and life group ministries are different. According to Pastor Clark, the small group ministry meets throughout the calendar year weekly to develop deep relationships, while the life group ministry meets only for six weeks because they are interest-based. Different interests include tennis, photography, pickleball, softball, prayer walks, and seasonal interests.

In addition to the two ministries, he stated that South Union recently relaunched the men and women ministries to give people more avenues to connect and grow. "We want to be a Church that is actively growing, and to see volunteers take ownership of leading the groups is encouraging," he said. Acknowledging his gratitude to God for the growth that South Union Church is experiencing, he also referenced a family that recently started attending Church and now has both the husband and wife serving in different teams.

Furthermore, Pastor Clark reinforced the importance of connecting people and said other Churches could learn from the South Union's success in interest-based life groups. He said the impact of the short-term life groups is far-reaching and links the generational differences in traditional small groups.

For instance, he gave the example of a fifty-nine-year-old woman playing tennis with a twenty-one-year-old college student in one of the Church's life groups. While those two would not sit together and talk on Sunday morning, he said their love for tennis brought them together. He also cited a group of mothers with strollers, walking together on Saturdays and bonding over the same season of life.

According to him, the Church has initiated different life groups, including a prayer walk group where people meet at a trail and pray together as they walk the path. He said the short-term commitment of five to seven weeks makes it easier for people to commit. "Think outside of the box… people want to do things based on their interests and hobbies, and it's an easy opportunity for the Church to bring people with similar interests together," he said.

Pastor Clark's dream for the future of the South Union is that they get to a place where the senior pastor is the last thing people think about when they think about the Church. "I hope that every time someone gets baptized in the Church, I'm not the one baptizing them. "I hope their best friend who has led them to Christ is the person baptizing them," he said.

Lastly, he hopes to see people taking ownership of their faith and engaging in intentional relationships that lead to impactful living. However, he believes that a growing congregation needs growing leaders because, according to one of his mentors, "The minute you stop growing is the minute you stop leading." Therefore, he looks forward to growing as the Church he leads grows.