Founded in 1974 by Pastor David Niednagel, Christian Fellowship Church has been a stable rock for the Evansville, Indiana community. The Church has continued to grow and flourish, rising above the challenge of having four hundred and fifty people show up instead of the expected fifty for its first gathering. Since that gathering at the University of Southern Indiana Campus, Christian Fellowship Church continues to experience steady growth and welcomes about two thousand adults for Church services today.

Founded in 1974 by Pastor David Niednagel, Christian Fellowship Church has been a stable rock for the Evansville, Indiana community. The Church has continued to grow and flourish, rising above the challenge of having four hundred and fifty people show up instead of the expected fifty for its first gathering. Since that gathering at the University of Southern Indiana Campus, Christian Fellowship Church continues to experience steady growth and welcomes about two thousand adults for Church services today.

Anchoring their foundation on the vision of glorifying God by making disciples of all nations, the focus of CFC remains just that. They continue to teach and equip the members to live out their faith beyond the Church walls. Christian Fellowship Church's dedication to the kingdom's cause rings through the life and service of David Niednagel, who served as the lead Pastor for about thirty-eight years.

Making disciples of all people

According to Pastor Adam Christian, CFC's Adult Ministry Team Lead, discipleship is at the core of everything the Church does. They seek to ensure that all the ministries work together to achieve that goal. One significant way they drive that vision is through their recently launched Discipleship Pathway to give the Church members something visual and tangible to help determine their next steps. Pastor Adam believes that because each Christian is at a different stage in their walk with God, it is crucial to help people figure out how to move beyond where they are to continue to grow and thrive as disciples of Christ.

Christian Fellowship Church engages in different outreach initiatives to connect with and serve their community throughout the year. For instance, the Church's Fall outreach program is hosted in the parking lot with different attractions: rides, games, food trucks, live music, and fireworks. The fun event recently welcomed over a thousand people from and around Evansville.

Pastor Adam stated that while the Christian Fellowship Church sponsors the outreach programs, they are more community-focused, and many of the people who show up are not members of CFC. While the Church is blessed to have many people decide to join the Church after the events each year, it is not the top intent. "We keep inviting them to low-stakes events because we want to bless them with an enjoyable evening and because this opens doors for us to share the Gospel,” he said.

Further to the above, getting people to choose to attend Christian Fellowship Church is important. However, Pastor Adam believes that the Church sees more people joining the Church through invitations from trusted friends or colleagues. He said that personal invitations are far more likely to be effective than impersonal invitations. It is with this understanding that the leadership of CFC continues to encourage members to invite their friends, neighbors, families, and co-workers.

God continues to do amazing things at CFC, and a recent story is especially touching because it encompasses what it means to live out the gospel. Not minding that he was new to the Evansville area, the love shown to a High schooler by Christian Fellowship Church led to his salvation. Multiple members of the Church offered to give him rides to and from his internship place because, with no car, he would have had to walk several hours to get to work. After developing a trusted relationship with one of the people giving him a ride, he accepted an invitation to start attending Church and recently gave his life to Jesus. Pastor Adam explained that coming from not understanding the concept of Christianity to becoming one is a testament to being intentional stewards of the faith. "I just love seeing God use His people to meet tangible needs of people and through that build relationships that lead to sharing the gospel," he said.

According to Pastor Adam, as the Church grows, the leadership constantly evaluates where they are and where they can do better. Two areas of particular interest are leadership development for volunteers and redefining the membership process. Through the leadership development initiative, they've created paths for volunteers to take on greater responsibilities. In addition, he stated that there is room to be more intentional about approaching discipleship in both areas by making it clear what it means to be a growing disciple.

With a focus on replication, Pastor Adam said that they are training volunteers and leaders to seek and train those people who can do what they are doing. Similarly, they expect those who are a level higher also to prepare them for greater responsibility. He further explains that there is more emphasis on serving and participating in small groups as part of the membership process of Christian Fellowship Church.

Christian Fellowship Church collaborates with other organizations with a model anchored on scriptures to care for those under-resourced and represented. Among other kingdom efforts, they partner with the Dream Center organization, which caters to one of the under-resourced communities in their neighborhood. With a vision to cater to children with very little parental involvement and resources, the Dream Center is intentional in providing tutoring and other resources to the kids who need them. Pastor Adam believes they could speak the gospel into the kids' lives by meeting their tangible needs first. The goal, he said, is that by the end of high school, the kids participating in these programs will have accepted Jesus as their Savior. "Often Christians want to tell people what they are doing wrong without showing them that we care," he stated.

Furthermore, Pastor Adam advised that Church leaders should expect more from their people, not less. He said that, too often, Church leaders cater to the culture by expecting too little from members when the reality is that leaders are called to challenge Christians to deeper relationships with Jesus, using their gifts and talents for kingdom purposes. He said that leaders should be less concerned about keeping people in the Church and more concerned with encouraging people to be devoted to God's mission.

Looking ahead, Pastor Adam stated that although he is too new in his role to see anything he would have done differently, he believes that trying new approaches when necessary is vital to growth. He said there's always something to learn, even if something doesn't work. Similarly, he believes that the future of the Christian Fellowship Church is bright as it prepares to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in 2024. With the new resourcing of the volunteers, he sees continuous growth in the Church and the kingdom at large.