Archive: What’s All the HOOPla at Union Chapel?

By Sara L. Anderson

Muncie’s Union Chapel UMC is growing because members take the court, not warm the bench.

This isn’t a story about basketball. It’s a story about a little brick church in the cornfield that grew so much it had to move to a former Ford dealership near the city. That, in a capsule, is the story of Union Chapel Ministries near Muncie, Indiana.

What causes a congregation in a stable population area to explode from an attendance of 80 to one of 950 in nine years? Such growth might not be surprising in a fast-growing suburban area. But Muncie’s population has remained stable.

As pastor Greg Parris recounts the story, Union Chapel’s blossoming first sprouted out of a “beautiful move of God’s Spirit” during a series of meetings held in October, 1981, shortly after Parris had been appointed to the charge. By the end of two years, the 140-seat little brick chapel had been outgrown and for the next four-and-a-half years the congregation met in a local high school auditorium. Two years ago, Union Chapel found a home in a former automobile dealership with 33,000 square feet of floor space and four-and-a-half acres of paved, lighted parking lot—a commodity many urban churches would give their new padded pews to possess.

Parris attributes their success (“as God counts success”) to a lively, more charismatic worship experience, and emphasis on prayer and an accepting spirit. “There’s a spirit we like to promote in the church which says that whoever walks in the doors of our church, that person is going to receive love and acceptance and forgiveness regardless of age, sex, ethnicity or dress code,” Parris says. As a result, on any given Sunday you might see a businessman with an expensive suit sitting next to a truck driver in jeans.

Many small groups meet in the church, at places of business or in homes for prayer, support, and discipleship. The Wednesday night service has been dedicating 90 percent of its time to corporate prayer, and the church this summer had a 40-day emphasis on prayer and fasting. The purpose, the pastor says, is to foster personal discipleship and a corporate sense of God’s vision and direction for Union Chapel’s future.

That vision involves a number of ministries at home and overseas.

While the church has a staff of 13, laity are expected to carry out much of Union Chapel’s ministry. “We’re a high-expectation, high demand congregation,” Parris explains. “Just to join our church you need to complete a seven-week membership training course.”

He notes the vows for UM church membership ask, “Will you be loyal to the church and uphold it by your prayers, your presence, your gifts and your service.” When people are asked to respond to those vows, the church leadership makes sure new members know what they’re promising to do. “We expect people to pray, to be here during worship services,” Parris says. “We expect our members to tithe. We expect people to serve. We say in our membership classes that if you’re not involved in a ministry, membership is not the right thing for you.” An unwritten expectation is that anyone holding leadership positions in the church must be involved in some kind of ministry there.

The ministry options are broad. Besides the usual church activities, Union Chapel hosts 12-step programs for those recovering from alcohol and drug abuse, a ministry to the handicapped and their families, counseling programs, a support group for divorced women, classes in signing for the hearing impaired, a group for overeaters.

Parris is excited about the campus ministry that began this fall. Union Chapel is within 10 minutes of the 18,000-strong Ball State University student body and less than a half-hour from Taylor University. The church already sends a bus to Taylor to bring students to church and will be doing the same at Ball State. (Attendance will reach 1,100 when the universities are in session.)

Parris notes that this fall’s college class is the first college class in this country to be born after the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that opened the door to abortion-on-demand. “They are survivors,” he says of these young people who could have been legally aborted. “My hunch is that God has a special plan for this generation of young people as it relates to world evangelization and making the name of Christ known. We want to be a part of reaching those kids and equipping them for what God has for them.

Union Chapel Ministries is particularly interested in those groups of people who are yet unreached with the Gospel. In fact, the church is sending a team of laymen and pastors to Bombay, India, to see how the church could be involved in ministry there.

People seem to thrive on this high-commitment atmosphere. “We attempt to address relevant issues that help people in their day-to-day living. When real, felt needs are met, people will return,” Parris says. “They will be encouraged and excited enough about what God is doing in their lives to share that with loved ones and friends. That’s how the church grows.”

In fact, much of Union Chapel’s growth has come through word-of-mouth, not evangelism programs or advertising. In fact, the most significant thing Parris would like people to say about his church is that, “Jesus Christ has become real to them. While their problems may still exit, He has become their source of strength and hope. People are finding Jesus in a real, personal, experiential way.”

Sara L. Anderson is the associate editor of Good News