Carmel Churches Serving the Community

A group from Northview Church serving Brookside Community Church in Downtown Indianapolis. (Photo submitted)

Over the past several months I’ve had the opportunity to profile many churches in Carmel and explain how they are impacting not only our city, but the cities surrounding us as well. If you were to ask any church in Carmel to make a list of core values, I would guarantee that service would be high on that list. So this month, instead of profiling just one church, I wanted to give you a big picture view when it comes to Carmel churches, specifically when it comes to serving the poor and under resourced in our city and the area surrounding us. With that being said, if you are a Carmel resident and have a desire to serve in our community may this article be an encouragement to you, or if you are a Carmel resident seeking help during a difficult time may this article be a resource for you to find help.

Here are a few examples of Carmel churches branching out and serving. Please understand as well that there are hundreds of additional opportunities available through various Carmel churches.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is located on the corner of 146th and Oak Ridge Road, has a resource called the Matthew 25 Center located on their property. The Matthew 25 Community Outreach Center is a multipurpose ministry that includes a food pantry as well as a free clinic. The Trinity Free Clinic provides “free medical, health, and dental support to the uninsured and low income residents of Hamilton County by using a volunteer professional staff.” For more information check out www.olmc1.org.

Northview Church, located on the corner of Main Street and Hazel Dell Parkway, has not only partnered with local organizations like Habitat for Humanity of Hamilton County and Agape Therapeutic Riding Center, they also have a partnership with an inner city church called Brookside Community Church in downtown Indianapolis. They are constantly collecting food and sending volunteers to help out at Brookside. To learn more check out www.northviewchurch.us.

Grace Community Church, located on 146th Street near the Hazel Dell Parkway intersection, is also a very active church. Grace hosts a food drive every Saturday from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. in their parking lot and at local grocery stores. All the donated food goes to Third Phase, which is Hamilton County’s largest food bank. Beyond the food drive, Grace sends many volunteers to the Shepherd Community Center on the east side of Indianapolis to tutor kids during the school year. To see more service opportunities check out www.gracecc.org.

In my conversations and interviews, I can tell you that the Church, as a whole in Carmel, is very eager to serve. If you have a burning desire to serve those in your neighborhood, those in your city, those in the city a few miles down the road, or those on the other side of the world, visit (or check out a website) some local churches and get plugged in!