OUR story

WHERE WE STARTED…

Our History

Our history begins with our sending church, College Park Church in northern Indianapolis, who sought to ignite a passion to follow Jesus throughout the greater Indy-metro region. In its young life, Pennington Park Church has continued to see God’s faithfulness and providential hand working in our people and city, and we continue to respond with faithfulness as we consider the future God has for us.

Timeline

College Park Church in Indianapolis sensed a need to increase local impact by planting churches throughout the greater Indianapolis region. Seeking God’s leading in this process, College Park’s leadership began praying, planning, and researching as the need for localized congregations became clearer.
The Next Door Mission was formed in order to lead and support College Park’s new vision of planting, adopting, and revitalizing churches in and around Indianapolis. The need for a gospel-centered church in eastern Hamilton county became clearer, and by the end of the year, tracks were being laid to start a second College Park congregation in the city of Fishers.
Chris Beals was hired as the lead pastor of the Fishers congregation, and a core group of people began meeting at College Park’s Ministry Center in Indianapolis. For the next six months, relationships and ministry teams were developed in preparation for a future launch date. On September 13, College Park Fishers was officially launched at Fall Creek Intermediate School on Olio Road.
College Park Fishers continued to grow as a tight-knit community was formed between its members. Twenty acres of property was purchased at the corner of Pennington Road and 126th Street with the hope of eventually establishing a permanent home in the city of Fishers.

College Park Fishers moved its gathering location to Fall Creek Junior High School as its presence in the community became more solidified. Continuing to grow, College Park Fishers, with guidance and support from College Park North Indy, began preparing for a building campaign and held a Prayer and Worship Night at 126th and Pennington.
The Multiply Campaign was formally launched at College Park Fishers as its people generously and faithfully committed funds toward a $6.8 million building project. With God’s guidance and provision, a permanent building at 126th and Pennington will be completed by early 2020. In November of 2018, a motion was passed by the congregation to make College Park Fishers a fully autonomous, self-governing church.
The construction of a permanent building at 126th and Pennington began as the community of College Park Fishers continued to grow. As a final step toward self-governance, the members of College Park Fishers approved the taking on of a new name, Pennington Park Church, upon moving into a permanent building in early 2020.
On Wednesday, March 25, Pennington Park Church received an approval for occupancy from the City of Fishers and held its first in-person services on Sunday, June 21. We are so thankful for the countless people who have used their God-given gifts and abilities to make the vision of Pennington Park Church become a reality. God is doing a faithful work in and through this body to know Jesus and make Him known.

WHERE WE are headed..

Our 2030 Vision

Over the next 7 years, our vision is to expand our current facility, which will enable us to serve around 1,500 people weekly, with thriving, multi-generational ministries focused on discipleship. We aim to launch a local church plant, raise Christmas Offerings exceeding $300,000 annually, and eliminate all existing debt to double our outreach funds.

VISION STATEMENT

We are a multi-generational church equipped with the Word to make disciples, plant churches, and reach the unreached locally and globally.

7 YEAR TIMELINE

The priority for 2024 is to focus on “depth and not breadth.” The exponential numerical growth over the last 3 years has resulted in more and more people (praise God!), which means ministries across the board have been stretched. As a result, we need to prioritize ministry health and increase member engagement before ministry expansion. We’ll always have a welcoming posture to new people, but our priority will be on the health and depth of each ministry along with increasing member engagement in serving, community participation, becoming more equipped, and congregational care and shepherding.
After a year of prioritizing ministry health and member engagement, 2025 will be a year to focus on adjusting our ministries to the expanded space. Because our vision involves multiplying disciples, adding space to invite more people to Pennington Park aligns well. In addition, the expanded space will enable our ministries to increase effectiveness and continue to make generational impact.

Pennington Park Church has experienced firsthand the power of church planting. With a need for more gospel-centered churches in the Hamilton County area, this year will be focused on developing a plan and vision for church planting that includes solidifying the church planter, the specific area to plant, the place of worship, a core team and training, and the timeline. This year will also be a time of adjusting to serving and caring for more people as a result of the expansion.
After a year of planning, researching, and casting vision, 2027 will be focused on launching our first church plant. This will be a time of celebration but also will create gaps as we launch some of our most engaged people with this church plant. Filling those gaps and adjusting will also be a focus in 2027 as we continue to equip our people with the Word and call them to whole-hearted engagement.
One of the limiters we experience is servicing our debt payment each year. These funds could be dedicated to other ministry initiatives such as local and global outreach opportunities. Therefore, a focus for 2028-2030 will be to raise funds to eliminate all existing debt so we can reallocate those funds to impact our community and world.

Five Key Characteristics of the Vision Statement

01: Multi-generational

We emphasize every generation with our ministry offerings with an inter-generational approach because we are a church family committed to generational impact.
02: Equipped with the Word

More ministry offerings will provide greater opportunities to equip people with the Word of God.
03: Make Disciples

Having more space will increase our discipleship effectiveness by providing more intentional teacher-to-student ratios.
04: Plant Churches

An expanded facility will allow for more time to develop a church planting strategy and will provide additional people to be launched in our first church plant.
05: Reach the Unreached

With more people at Pennington Park, our capacity to give to local and global outreach ministry will greatly increase.