A Profile of White River Christian Church

In Print and Bytes:
White River Christian Church is located in Noblesville, Indiana, a growing suburb just northeast of Indianapolis, Indiana in Hamilton County. In 2006, Noblesville, IN was listed as one of the Best Places to Raise Your Family (Sperling & Sander, Wiley Publishing). White River Christian Church has also been mentioned and/or featured in the Noblesville Daily Times, the Noblesville Ledger, Topics, and the Indianapolis Star.

Our website has also been voted as a Rockin' Cool Church Website, on www.churchcommunictionspro.com, a popular and insightful ministry blog. And speaking of blogs, check out the blogs written by some of our very own pastors, Keith Comp, Phil Heller, Bret Cadwell, Derek Lynas, and Murphy Belding.

A Little Background:
White River Christian Church is a growing congregation with many activities geared towards young families. Membership at White River Christian Church is near 2100 with average Sunday attendance between 1900 and 2100. White River Christian Church has grown from a small group of people meeting in private homes and calling themselves the Noblesville Prayer Group in 1972 to the present campus located at 1685 N. 10th Street, Noblesville, IN. In 2002, the construction of the new 900 seat sanctuary was completed and the church has been growing steadily since. In that same year Timothy Brock joined White River Christian Church as Senior Pastor. Murphy Belding, the Executive Pastor, joined the White River Christian Church staff in 2004 and came from Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY where he was instrumental in pioneering the Small Group movement within the church.

Our Mission and Means:
The Mission Statement of White River Christian Church is to evangelize the lost, to build mature disciples and to be the hands and feet of Jesus (Matthew 28:19-20). The strategy implemented by the Pastors and Staff of White River Christian Church to accomplish this mission is to build relationships focusing on the Cross, Family, and Community. Our focus on salvation and intimacy with God is represented by the Cross. Family represents our focus on community with friends and family, and Community symbolizes the influence for Christ we hope to have on everyone else! This emphasis on becoming the hands and feet of Jesus is being shown through the desire of the people of White River to reach out and help those around us. We are following this God given direction to serve, and we are finding that serving fits the DNA of White River Christian Church.

What You'll Get on Sunday:
Our services are contemporary in fashion and feature live concert style worship, communion, and Biblical Restoration Christian preaching. Occasionally there is a special drama presented by the Drama Team of White River Christian Church. Sunday service times are 8:15am, 9:45am, and 11:15am and are led by a contemporary worship team and most sermons are given by Senior Pastor Timothy Brock.

What Your Young Children Will Get on Sunday:
The infant and pre-school programs known as "The Baby Zone" and "The Zoo Zone" go above and beyond the normal nursery of an ordinary church by providing quality childcare, Biblical lessons, and loving attention during all 3 services. There is also a Special Needs Class offered for children ages 2-11 during the 9:45am service.

Children in kindergarten through 4th grade are invited to participate in their own church complete with worship and Bible teaching in "The Zone." This program is the perfect Sunday school for the elementary age kids and is offered during all three services. White River Christian Church is blessed with a fabulous Puppet Team, led by Ray & Renee Reks. The puppet shows are of professional production standard and receive rave reviews from children and adults alike on the Sunday mornings they perform.

What Your Older Children Will Get on Sunday and Beyond:
There is a Junior High program, PULSE, offered at 9:45am on Sunday mornings for 5th-8th graders if they choose not to serve or participate in the adult worship at White River Christian Church. Momentum and GO! are also great programs for any and all Junior High aged student. The Senior High Ministry has many great opportunities to grow, worship, fellowship, and serve. This group meets on Sunday evenings at Awake. There are also small groups and Bible studies available that are geared to the needs and issues of students in high school today.

The programs for kids in middle school, intermediate school, and high school extend beyond Sunday and reach out into the community of Noblesville, IN as well as Hamilton County. Activities include the White River Washout, when our kids help clean up the White River in Noblesville, Indiana; Shoe the Kids, where donated school supplies and shoes are distributed to needy children in Hamilton County; retreats and overnights to fun spots such as Camp Allendale, Cedar Point and Kings Island; small group studies and lots of activities that provide time to eat pizza, learn about Jesus and teenage life in today's world, fellowship, and just hang out.

So, You Want to Play Ball:
White River Christian Church strives to be a lighthouse church and reach the lost of Hamilton County and the community of Noblesville, IN. A major outreach is the Upward Sports ministry. Upward Sports provides soccer leagues and a basketball/cheerleading league for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. In the summer of 2007 White River Christian Church kicked off it's first-ever week long summer sports camp. Children, ages preschool through 6th grade, got to choose from basketball, flag football, soccer, and cheerleading. We had so much fun that our hope is to continue to offer this summer sports camp. Our sports programs reach many families throughout Hamilton County and grows in enrollment from year to year.

For the adult athlete, we have Men's golf leagues, a Men's basketball league, and open gym most thursday evenings for basketball from 8:30-10:00pm.

The Hands and Feet of Jesus:
White River Christian Church strives to be the hands and feet of Jesus in Hamilton County. White River Christian Church is and has been the host site of the Noblesville Major's Prayer Breakfast for the last 2 years. A Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen are operated on site that serve between 5 and 25 needy families weekly. White River Christian Church works closely with, Crossroads Missions, Habitat for Humanity, Hamilton County's Good Samaritan Network, Red Cross, and Hamilton County Thanksgiving Dinner. Nancy Chance, employee of Riverview Hospital and chairwoman of the Good Samaritan Network, is an instrumental part of coordinating the involvement of White River Christian Church in supporting these community outreach opportunities.

We love to support our community by helping out whenever we can. Sometimes this is by building Habitat for Humanity Homes, and sometimes it's participating in and helping out with the Noblesville Street Dance and Holiday Parade. We want to show as many people as possible the love of Jesus, through nursing home visitations, mission trips to places like Panama as well as New Orleans, Thanksgiving and Christmas giveaways, and other programs directed by our Community Works Ministry.

Beyond Sunday for Adults:
There are also many programs, small group studies, and activities for adults of all ages, stages, and backgrounds. These include, but are not limited to, Women's and Men's Bible Studies, a Singles Group Ministry, a College Age/Young Adult Ministry, and a Prime Time Ministry for mature adults of any age, and a Hispanic Ministry with services and worship offered in Spanish. White River Christian Church offers Men's, Women's, and Couple's retreats throughout the year. Other activities offered through the Adult Ministry of White River Christian Church are the Men's Wild Game Feed, the Men's Ministry Fishing Trip, and the Women's Ministry Tea with Thee. We even took a trip to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati in 2007.

We're Glad You're Here:
Please continue to browse the White River Christian Church website to learn about all of these and the many other wonderful opportunities offered with the prayer and hope of furthering God's Kingdom.