In the 1950s and early 1960s Indianapolis was known as “naptown” or “India-no-place.” However, both the city and the Reformed Presbyterian Church started growing in new ways in the state capital. This renewal or reformation had something to do with a vision for Christ’s mediatorial kingdom that came with the RP Church growth, yet it is hard to pinpoint exact connections.

Back in the 1950s, each Memorial Day weekend several thousand race car fans came for the Indy 500. That was just once a year. At a local level, high school basketball was a big deal in the city and state of Indiana, as later popularized in the movie Hoosiers.

In the late 1960s a young mayor, Richard Lugar, got the state legislature to annex all of Marion County into the city. Civic leaders started to think about Indianapolis like the old Avis rental car commercial—“We try harder.”

The metro area population was smaller than older big-league cities such as Pittsburgh, Detroit, St. Louis, and Cleveland. Indy mayors and civic leaders hungered for big-league status, in sports and business. The Pacers of the old American Basketball Association became part of the NBA. The NFL Colts moved from Baltimore to Indy. Business and political leaders built a downtown park on White River, along with new sports stadiums to attract big events. The city became a hub of amateur sports and then some tech companies.

In the 1960s when Richard Lugar was becoming mayor, a young Reformed Presbyterian pastor, Roy Blackwood, had his eyes on Indianapolis. He had studied the doctrine of Christ’s mediatorial kingship, through the life of Scottish pastor William Symington. Blackwood learned how Christ’s kingship extended not only over the church but also over the state and all areas of life. His doctoral work on Symington’s classic book, Messiah the Prince, gave him the theological foundation to be a church planter and multiplier and a pastor to many civic leaders. Many of us were excited about Christ’s Lordship over all areas of life, having heard the vision from Francis Schaeffer, R. C. Sproul, or Dutch reformation leaders such as Abraham Kuyper. Symington’s kingship doctrine spelled out that vision in strong, scriptural detail and theological depth that was hard to find in other evangelical churches.

With kingship in mind, Blackwood and his wife, Margie, trusted the Lord for His building of His church in the state capital of Indianapolis. Roy had been pastor in the Bloomington, Ind., RP Church in the 1950s and had grown up in the RP Church in Ohio. In Indianapolis, Second RP Church came first, then a multiplication of RP churches in Lafayette, Columbus, the south side of Indianapolis, Kokomo, Marion, Elkhart in northern Indiana, and the west side of Indianapolis. The churches often started in Bible studies in a home or with students, sometimes growing into ministries for young singles, which led to marriages and children. It was always Christ building His church, not ingenious church growth strategies.

Many RP members became salt and light in kingdom initiatives in the city and state, sometimes in government or in their vocations and often in nonprofit ministries that sprang up to tackle social problems—homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse, and family disintegration.

As Indianapolis was aspiring to big-league stature, the Reformed Presbyterian churches were seeing people come to salvation and growth in Christ. Blackwood especially, but other pastors and elders, kept praying regularly for the growth of the church and also for wisdom and understanding for mayors, governors, senators, and others serving in civil government. An elder in the Lafayette RP church, Bill Long, had been elected to the Lafayette City Council, then to the state House of Representatives. He became the head of the House Ways and Means Committee and the go-to person on state finances during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was part of a small prayer fellowship of believers in state politics.

Christ’s kingdom was advancing in other ways during the growth of Indianapolis. In the 1990s Mayor Stephen Goldsmith was putting the city on the map in an aggressive effort to bring free market competition to city services. Goldsmith had businesses running city golf courses and collecting garbage. His approach attracted national attention, and other mayors borrowed from his playbook.

With less national publicity Goldsmith was asking Indy pastors, churches, and faith-based nonprofits to help with the social problems of the homeless, broken families, and drug addiction. As county prosecutor before he was mayor, Goldsmith had seen how evangelical Christian ministries had a quiet but successful track record with tough social problems that defied good government intentions. The mayor saw rescue missions bringing new life for the homeless and seemingly on smaller budgets. He could wax eloquent about how government had none of the spiritual resources that he had seen in nonprofits.

Meanwhile a number of believers in the city kept launching ministries to hurting people. It doesn’t seem coincidental that all these initiatives kept popping up in a state capital where the RP Church—with its unusual features of psalm singing and the doctrine of Christ’s kingdom—landed and prayed for government. RP churches are bent to pray more for civil government because of how the doctrine of Christ’s kingship extends to Christ’s rule over the state and the church for His kingdom advancement.

A Different War on Poverty

One example of the various Christian ministries is Shepherd Community Center, under the leadership of Jay Height. Height, a Nazarene pastor, is always looking for ways to battle poverty with the Bible on the city’s east side. One example: a city cop and a trained social worker on staff to patrol the center’s zip code more creatively than waiting for 911 calls.

Doctors against Homelessness

Dr. Jim Trippi, a heart surgeon, launched Gennesaret Free Clinic in the 1990s to provide health care for the homeless, calling on fellow doctors and nurses to provide this care at several sites around the city. He named the ministry after the healing ministry of Christ.

Jobs for the Homeless

Purposeful Design came from businessman David Palmer’s Bible studies with homeless men at Wheeler Mission. Thwarted by criminal records or bad habits, the men kept asking Palmer to help them find jobs. Palmer started a small business for custom furniture making, and it keeps getting bigger—$1.4 million in sales this year, coming close to breaking even, with 15 employees, capturing a niche in a competitive market.

Heart Help for Women

David Palmer’s wife, Cindy, has launched a discipleship initiative for women. Some have saved a baby from potential abortion through the Life Centers, a crisis pregnancy center network. Heart Change includes tutoring to boost workplace skills. Some work in a small soap business. Others live in the ministry’s Covenant Community homes.

Racial Diversity in Classical Education

The idea was a 50–50 black–white racial balance, classical education, and a Christian foundation in one of the worst Indy neighborhoods. Now, after 20 years, Oaks Academy is thriving, with more than 700 students on three campuses in inner-city neighborhoods. The K–8 schools still feature racial and economic balance, with constant memorization of classical texts, including the Bible. The neighborhood around the original school campus has been transformed from high crime to thriving renewal.

Unite Indy

Jim and Nancy Cotterill, a husband-wife business and journalist team, have launched a nonprofit to support inner-city churches, sometimes connecting them with suburban churches. They were recently honored with a Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Award from the Indiana Minority Business Magazine.

Old Church, New Vision

Englewood Christian Church might look like a social gospel ministry, with low-income housing, child care, a community development corporation, and home ownership options. Pastor Mike Bowling and other Englewood leaders have avoided the false dilemma between feeding the hungry and preaching the gospel. “We think systemic poverty can only be broken by God’s wisdom incarnate in the church,” says Pastor Bowling.

Loving Homeless Teens

Eric Howard was helping homeless teens from the trunk of his car in the 1990s. Now his Outreach ministry works with several hundred teens, with a new drop-in center near downtown Indianapolis. He’s had help from business friends, especially a powerful Republican lawyer, Bob Grand, whom he met in a Bible study. Grand is a kingmaker in Indiana politics, but Howard thought he was just some guy in a Bible study.

Indy’s African-American Spurgeon

Pastor Jeffrey Johnson has been preaching the gospel message for 30 years, expanding the small Eastern Star Church to about 15,000 members at three sites. Johnson preaches to mostly African-American audiences on Sundays. In the low-income neighborhood around the original home church, members tutor at the nearby public school and offer home ownership opportunities for low-income families. “God called me to preach the gospel, winning souls to the kingdom and making disciples. We call it advancing God’s kingdom.” But he is thankful for how many members are applying their faith to good works.

Poverty as Divine Intervention

In a rough neighborhood, Jim Strietel­meier leads the Neighborhood Fellowship. Planted by the suburban Zionsville Fellowship, they are surrounded by vacant buildings and broken families. They have a medical clinic and work-readiness options, but the gospel is the priority. “We look at financial poverty as an enhancement to the preaching of the gospel rather than a problem that should take center stage,” says Strietelmeier. “After God has been made central, the secondary needs of life are met by God Himself.” Jim’s sister, Jerri Concannon, is a member at Second RP, where her husband, Patrick, has become a deacon.

Out of Prison, into Church

The nearby Brookside Community Church welcomes former prison inmates back to the city. Originally a plant by the suburban Northview Church, Brookside now has houses for former inmates, along with job placement and a food co-op. Pastor David Cedarquist has learned a key point about the cycle of coming out of prison and back to crime: If an ex-offender finds a friend at Brookside, chances are much better that he won’t go back to more crime.

Salvation behind Bars

William Bumphus took his own conversion to Christ behind bars, almost 40 years ago, and started preaching behind bars. Returning to Indy after prison, new believers needed a place to live. He launched the Jesus House in an old nursing home, with room for about 40 ex-inmates. Some of the men find jobs, and all of them must attend regular Bible studies at the house.

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RP Church members have been serving in several of these ministries. One example: then Southside RP pastor Keith Magill and his wife, Becky, were among the founding families for the Life Centers, or crisis pregnancy centers, through which so many women have come to salvation. Another example: Marty Wilson of Second RP has been a dedicated volunteer at Wheeler Mission for many years. She is the mother of Cindy Palmer, the founder of Heartchange, which started as a followup discipleship ministry for women coming through the Life Centers. Another example: Eric Johnson of Second RP has been visiting prisons for Bible study for many years and has kept the church connected to the Jesus House and Pastor William Bumphus.

These ministries flourish, in part, because of volunteers who do the tutoring, or feed the hungry, or fix homes. One-hour-a-week service might seem small and like it might not even cause much of a wave in the big picture of overwhelming challenges. “Who has despised the day of small things?” (Zech. 4:10). Many small steps of obedience can add up to big waves of kingdom impact if the Lord is building the house. Many of these volunteers are not consciously thinking kingdom doctrine in these efforts, yet they are applying the Scriptures and advancing Christ’s kingdom.

Timely Battle for Neglected Young People

Bob Schloss used to send delinquent kids to time behind bars in the juvenile justice system. He was a deputy prosecutor in northern Indiana. He dreamed about substitute families for the young people in the court system.

Now that dream is coming true at the New Song Mission on 100 acres in rural Brown County. Schloss and his small staff have opened doors for several young girls. Another Reformed Presbyterian connection: until recently, Lindsey McCracken Ng of Columbus RP Church was the main teacher at New Song.

Putting Money Behind His Mouth

Civic leader Mike Smith has had a ringside seat on the city’s progress for more than 40 years as a top business executive. Seeing the city prosper at one level, he and his wife, Sue, launched a grant-making initiative, the Faith & Action Project, emphasizing practical results over good intentions in fighting poverty. Smith’s business mindset is good for his current passion, as he challenges nonprofits to look for measurable results.

Fighting Poverty with Business

Indy civic leader Jay Hein is helping business entrepreneurs invest in a battle against poverty. Running the Indy-based Sagamore Institute, Hein offers the Commonwealth Fund, giving investors a small return for home building for low-income families or businesses that employ the homeless. The fund is not a charity but investors bringing marketplace discipline, with smaller returns, to a practical war on poverty.

More RP kingdom connections: at the Sagamore Institute Donald Cassell leads the organization’s Africa initiative, which has sent Indiana farmers to Liberia to boost small farming productivity. Cassell also leads an annual leadership seminar at a rural Christian college. Retired Second RP Pastor Rich Johnson is working on an apprenticeship program for students to benefit from on-the-job training through the college. Also at Sagamore, Christ RP Church (on the west side of Indianapolis) member Andrew Falk is a senior fellow at Sagamore, working on criminal justice and prison reform projects.

Older but Staying on Mission

Many of these initiatives are pretty new, but Wheeler Mission just celebrated its 125th birthday in 2018. It has been a rescue operation for the homeless. Men who commit to Christ can go to Camp Hunt near Bloomington for discipleship, as well as sheltered work making pallets.

Praying for Politicians

Politically, Indiana has changed from purple to red and blue. Indianapolis has a strong Democratic majority, along with several other cities in the state. The state is firmly conservative, and conservative Republicans hold virtually all the statewide offices and big majorities in the General Assembly.

Transcending the red-blue divide in state government is the Public Servants Prayer ministry. As an informal chaplain in state government, Matt Barnes launched his initiative 15 years ago, becoming a kind of pastor to many members of the General Assembly. He earns praise from both parties for staying away from the political issues and ministering in prayer and pastoral care to the legislature and state government employees.

His ministry built on an informal network of Christians, going back to the small prayer group that included state Rep. Bill Long, an RP elder, and then Secretary of State Ed Simcox. Simcox continued the small group ministry in the 1980s and 1990s to the time he met Matt Barnes and helped him take over the ministry and expand it to a full-time calling. In his day job, Simcox was head of the state’s electric utility organization, and he also has been a leading Republican leader behind the scenes.

Another Reformed Presbyterian connection is Debbie Magnuson, the social media director for Public Servants Prayer ministry and wife of Terry, a Second RP elder.

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Were all these ministries built on a doctrine of Christ’s kingdom? Not in the bylaws. Yet many of them are thinking kingdom, or looking for the ways in which Christ will show Himself King in all areas of life.

Reformed Presbyterian churches in other parts of Indiana have pursued that kingdom vision. Bob Bibby led the Lafayette RP Church into a jail ministry that has flourished and now includes outreach to women behind bars. The Kokomo RP Church linked up closely with the Kokomo Rescue Mission in earlier years, through Bible studies and men coming to the church. In the Marion RP Church Pastor Jason Camery is also active in probation work, using his vocational background as a police offer to attempt to extend Christ’s kingship into the criminal justice system.

Pastor James Faris of Second RP puts it this way, in the context of Roy Blackwood’s emphasis on kingdom: “You can’t trace a direct line, but Dr. Blackwood helped foster a culture that aids things that were already happening or maybe sprouted from other seeds and were nourished.”

Succession

Succession in the next generation is always a challenge in churches as well as these kinds of ministries.

One encouragement is how Matt Barnes has expanded the ministry in state government that started with the small group in the 1970s. Veteran State Sen. Dennis Kruse can remember how the group had a small network of prayer partners several years ago. Now he marvels at the much larger network of prayer warriors.

We see similar encouragement at Second RP Church. When someone as gifted as Roy Blackwood passes on, can anyone take his place? He never wanted to be the indispensable man. He liked to point to Jesus. Second RP Church is now in a transition from older elders to younger ones. James Faris, grandson of Bill Long, is a younger pastor. Joel Hart, the associate pastor, is even younger. We are grateful as people under 40 keep coming to join us and don’t seem to mind the fact that some of us are well over 40 now.

More Succession

Another succession is coming with U.S. Sen. Todd Young. He is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee with the assignment to keep the Republican majority in the Senate next year. He wants Republicans to join the debate over the best ways to fight poverty. He frequently visits urban ministries and thinks that free-market Republicans have proposals that big government liberals have missed. He calls it a Fair Shot agenda, with an emphasis on programs that show real results. “We should not be measuring compassion by the number of people receiving government aid,” he says. “It’s time we shift the focus to achieving desired outcomes.” Young has changed the terminology to a Fair Shot but has effectively picked up the theme of compassionate conservatism in the next generation after George W. Bush and former Mayor Steve Goldsmith.

And More Succession

Another succession story: In the 1980s several RP members engaged in an inner-city ministry, the Community Outreach Center, headed by Percy Scruggs. Scruggs, an African American, practiced racial reconciliation without talking about it. In the 1980s he opened doors of service for young Christians to lead Bible studies, tutor, develop athletic programs, and help inner city young people to take cross-country bicycle trips. In the 1990s we thought we had failed. Percy got older and could not carry on with the ministry in a very rough neighborhood. It was hard to find another dedicated servant of his kind.

In the sovereignty of God, in response to Percy’s example of grassroots ministry, a middle-class couple (lawyer and doctor) moved into the neighborhood with their children. A few years later, Jeff and Sue Pankratz joined with a few others and launched an alternative to public schools—the aforementioned Oaks Academy, which flourishes in the inner city and contributes to neighborhood renovation. No one human being had thought of such grand schemes and plans. Mayor Steve Goldsmith obtained a federal grant to build homes on the many vacant lots in the area. His successor, Bart Peterson, developed that grant into what became Fall Creek Place, transforming the area physically. A young married couple, Bill and Joanna Taft, started a home Bible study in the area around the same time, which grew into the thriving Redeemer PCA Church. Members of the church, especially Bill and Joanna, are still much engaged in neighborhood restoration, which includes the Harrison Center for the Arts.

Younger RP members continue to be salt and life in Indiana circles. Ethan Hoffman of Second RP was recently named teacher of the year for the Indianapolis Public Schools, the state’s largest school district. He teaches ESL to students from other nations. He also leads the Second RP Church ESL ministry that often reaches students coming to Indianapolis universities from other countries, especially China.

The doctrine of Christ’s mediatorial kingdom offers us all kinds of blessings, including a way to connect what Christ seems to be doing in what was a small town aspiring to big-league status.

Russ Pulliam is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star, the director of the Pulliam Fellowship, and a member of God’s World Publications’ board of directors. He also is an elder at Second (Indianapolis, Ind.) RPC, a member of the board of Patrick Henry College, teaches for the World Journalism Institute, and teaches a high school writing class.