On the north side of South Bend, Indiana, where Cleveland Road meets Ironwood Road and the University Park Mall sits just a mile away, a United Methodist congregation known simply as Clay Church has spent six decades growing into one of the busiest parish campuses in the Michiana region. Founded in 1966 and currently marking sixty years of ministry with a year-long 60 Minute Challenge, Clay draws an average of 3,500 people each week to its worship services, programs, and outreach efforts across two locations, the North Campus on Ironwood Road and the Firehouse Campus on Cleveland Road.
Two Campuses, One Church
Clay Church operates what staff describe as a multi-campus congregation. The North Campus at 52866 Ironwood Road houses the worship services and the Clay Church Early Childhood Programs (ECP). The Firehouse Campus at 17646 Cleveland Road, just east of Ironwood and a mile west of University Park Mall, is home to youth ministry, the Clay Church Food Pantry, the staff offices, and the columbarium. Sunday morning worship is held at the North Campus. Office hours run Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., at the Firehouse Campus, and the main phone line, 574-272-8068, routes to the same staff team.
Worship on Sundays at 9 and 11
Two distinct services share the same Biblical teaching and run about sixty minutes each. The 9:00 a.m. Traditional Service features hymns sung by the church choir and accompanied by the church organ, along with spoken responses. The 11:00 a.m. Contemporary Service features music from the Clay Church band in a more relaxed, modern environment. Both begin with a welcome and brief announcements, then move into congregational singing with lyrics projected on screens, a time of prayer, and a message from one of the pastors.
Visitors are welcome to show up at either service without registering. Those who let the church know they are coming through the Plan Your Visit form receive the VIP Experience: a building tour, a small gift, and a hospitality team member who walks with them from arrival to departure. Dress runs the full spectrum, suits and ties alongside jeans and T-shirts, and the church's own advice is simply to come as you are.
On the first Sunday of each month, the schedule shifts to a Worship Together Sunday. Kindergartners and older children join their families in the sanctuary for an intergenerational service that usually includes Communion. Communion is also offered on the first Sunday of every month at both services, and a team of lay Communion Ministers brings the sacrament to shut-ins and others unable to attend.
Services are livestreamed each week for those unable to be present, and weekly sermon videos, study guides, and a podcast are available through the Clay Church app and online.
FaithWorks: Children from Birth through Fifth Grade
Clay Church's children's ministry, FaithWorks!, meets during both Sunday morning services at the North Campus. Families check children in at the FaithWorks counter just beyond the cafe and receive a claim ticket for pickup after the service. Children worship together, then break into age-appropriate small groups. On Wednesdays, FaithWorks Crew gathers grades 1 to 5 from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. for worship, service projects, friendship, and games. A staffed nursery for infants and toddlers is available during worship and other programming.
Jamie Leonard serves as Director of Children's Ministry, with Matt Michele as FaithWorks Sunday Leader. For families interested in volunteering, the program offers rotations in nursery care, preschool teaching, small group leadership, greeting, and check-in, all of which require a background check.
Firehouse: Youth in Grades 6 through 12
The Firehouse youth ministry takes its name from the Firehouse Campus where much of its activity happens. On Sunday mornings at 10:45, students meet for recreation, worship with a live band, a Biblical message, and small groups. On Wednesday nights from 5:30 to 7:30, Firehouse Crew turns into a student leadership night with tracks in music, tech, hospitality, missions, games, and teaching. Any student can drop in on any week.
Other Firehouse offerings include an annual IGNITE retreat, which gathers students in grades 6 through 12 from churches across the area for worship, live music, an overnight outing, and a morning of service. Lucas Miner, Pastor for Youth and Families, oversees the ministry along with a team of volunteer leaders.
Clay Circles: Small Groups for Every Walk of Life
Small groups at Clay Church are called Circles. Groups of four to twelve people meet weekly or twice a month in homes and around the area to share a meal, study Scripture, pray together, and talk through life's joys and struggles. There are Circles for men and women, for singles and married couples, and for people in every stage and walk of life. Newcomers can be matched with a Circle by emailing bdurand@claychurch.com. A separate Marriage Ministry supports couples through Married People Date Nights, with free childcare provided during a three-hour evening of guided conversation, and Married People Night Out events held several times a year.
Second Half Adventurers and Senior Suds
Older adults at Clay Church find two regular touchpoints. Second Half Adventurers is a once-a-month gathering for food, fellowship, entertainment, and outreach, hosted at the Firehouse Campus. Recent programs have included a juggling workshop with the cofounder of the Michiana Juggling Club and a concert by the New Horizons Band.
Senior Suds is a partnership with Christ the King Lutheran Church, the Clay Church Food Pantry, the St. Joseph County Health Department, and Burton's Laundry that provides free laundry vouchers to St. Joseph County residents age 55 and older who receive SNAP benefits. Approved participants pick up a prepaid Burton's Laundry card at the Food Pantry, use it at any Burton's location, and return the card after use. A representative from the St. Joseph County Department of Health is on-site at Burton's River Park and Mishawaka Lincolnway West locations on the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
Stephen Ministry: One-on-One Care
Clay Church runs a Stephen Ministry program in which trained lay caregivers provide one-on-one Christian care to people in the congregation and community who are going through grief, loneliness, divorce, hospitalization, disability, job loss, or other difficulties. Stephen Ministers are matched by gender, meet weekly with their care receiver, and receive ongoing supervision from Stephen Leaders. Referrals can be made by emailing stephenministry@claychurch.com or calling 574-272-8083 ext. 20. The church also fields a Funeral Meal Team, a Shut-In Visitation group, and a Meal Support Team for people recovering from surgery or illness.
The Clay Church Food Pantry
The Food Pantry at the Firehouse Campus, entered through Door 4 beneath the green awning on the south side of the building, has become one of the largest direct-service ministries of the church. It is open to guests on Mondays from noon to 3:00 p.m. and Thursdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Anyone in St. Joseph County is eligible, with a valid driver's license or state-issued ID and a piece of mail showing a current address required at each visit. Guests may collect from the pantry once per calendar month. For those unable to come during open hours, a more limited selection can be delivered to homes in St. Joseph County through a home delivery order form.
Volunteer roles include taking and filling orders, data entry, restocking shelves, and loading or unloading deliveries. A separate Mobile Food Pantry brings food into South Bend neighborhoods with less access to grocery stores on multiple dates each month. Donations of food or financial gifts can be dropped at the church office Monday through Thursday between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., or given online.
Helping Hands and the Unity Garden
Helping Hands is a volunteer crew of Clay Church members who lend their time and skills to elderly neighbors and people facing medical challenges. Projects include bathroom accessibility upgrades, wheelchair ramps, and other minor home and yard repair. The Unity Garden, tended on work days throughout the year, provides fresh produce for the community.
Early Childhood Programs (ECP)
Clay Church operates an Early Childhood Programs center that has served the Michiana community for more than thirty years. ECP provides weekday programming year round for children from six weeks to five years of age, and for children up to twelve during the summer. The program emphasizes physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual development in a Christian environment, with an age-appropriate, academically based curriculum that prepares children for kindergarten.
The center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday during the school year and Monday through Thursday during the summer. Before Care starts at 7:30 a.m. and Extended Care runs until 5:30 p.m. Flexible days and sessions are available for three-year-olds and up. Shanaka Aeschleman is the ECP Director and can be reached at saeschleman@claychurch.com or 574-273-4308.
Baptism, Membership, and Weddings
Clay Church practices the baptism of infants and holds to one baptism, meaning anyone previously baptized does not need to be baptized again to join. Baptisms are scheduled through Jamie Leonard. New members attend a single Membership Class and are asked to support the church with their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Members in good standing at another United Methodist church can transfer easily.
Confirmation takes place during a student's eighth-grade year after an eight-month class led by pastors and family ministry staff, with older students welcome to join.
Weddings at Clay Church are open to both members and non-members. The church follows the United Methodist Social Principles' definition of marriage as a union of two consenting adults and has clergy on staff to perform same-sex weddings. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and inquiries go to weddings@claychurch.com.
The Columbarium and Funeral Ministry
In a quiet corner of the church grounds, beside a prayer walk, the Clay Church columbarium provides a place for the interment of ashes that family members can visit for prayer and remembrance. The Care Team walks families through funeral planning, hosting, and meals, and the Clay Church Careline (574-272-8083 ext. 444) is monitored around the clock for urgent pastoral needs.
The 60 Minute Challenge
To mark six decades of ministry, Clay Church has invited the congregation into a yearlong series of hour-long challenges. Each challenge is built around a different facet of faith and service. Recent prompts have included sixty minutes of personal spiritual growth, sixty minutes of service through a church outreach, and sixty minutes serving children and youth. Later challenges, including a fourth set in fall 2026 and additional rounds through 2027, will continue the rhythm.
Mission, Vision, and Beliefs
Clay Church's stated mission is to walk with more people toward a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ. Its vision unfolds through three verbs: Embrace, Ignite, and Expand. To embrace is to welcome everyone, no matter who they are or where they have been. To ignite is to fan into flame the gifts God has placed in each person. To expand is to carry Christ's love outward through feeding the hungry, caring for those without advocates, meeting basic needs, and mentoring young people.
The church describes itself as fully welcoming, fully affirming, and fully United Methodist. No one is excluded from leadership on the basis of age, gender, race or ethnicity, sexuality, gender identity or nonidentity, economic background, or ability. Clay holds that the Bible is inspired by God, that God is alive, that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that the Holy Spirit is active today. The goal of the Christian life, in Clay's own words, is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.
A Brief History
In 1966, a group of families in South Bend was asked by leaders of the United Methodist Church to start a new church on the north side of town to reach more people with the love of Jesus Christ. Meeting space was provided by the University of Notre Dame while the congregation organized itself. Across the six decades since, the church counts 926 baptisms, more than 2,700 people who have professed Jesus Christ as their Savior through its ministries, thousands of youth mentored through FaithWorks, Firehouse, summer camps, ECP, and school partnerships, and tens of thousands of people fed through the Food Pantry. The congregation has also helped bring clean water to villages in Burkina Faso, supported youth in Tapachula, Mexico, and partnered in Project Warm to keep homeless neighbors from dying on the streets of South Bend. Sixty years on, Clay Church continues to look to where God is leading it next.