Common Ground Midtown: A 2001 Planting, Now Three Campuses
Common Ground Midtown is one of three Indianapolis-area campuses of Common Ground Christian Church, a non-denominational congregation that traces its roots to 2001, when a leadership team from Traders Point Christian Church was sent out to plant a new church in the Broad Ripple neighborhood. Senior Pastor Jeff Krajewski, who has led the work since the start, joined the Traders Point staff in 1995 and was commissioned in May 2001 to launch what would become the Common Ground family of churches.
Twenty-five years later, Common Ground now gathers as Midtown, Northeast, and West. The Midtown campus is located on North Illinois Street in Indianapolis's Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, on the city's Mid-North side. The Midtown building is shared with Heritage Place, a community organization that provides services for older adults. About 75 to 100 children come through the children's ministry rooms each Sunday morning.
Sundays at 4550 N. Illinois Street
Two in-person Sunday services are held at 9:00 and 11:00 AM, with an additional virtual service at 11:00 AM streamed online. The address is 4550 N. Illinois Street, Indianapolis, IN 46208. First-time visitors are invited to fill out a Connect Card in advance or to stop by the welcome center, where members of the hospitality and children's ministry teams help with family registration. A team member then follows up during the week.
The church also hosts Discover Midtown, a newcomers' gathering on the fourth Sunday of each month after the second service. It is a short time for staff and visitors to share the story of the church, eat together, and talk about next steps. Children in PreK through fifth grade begin the 9:00 AM service in the sanctuary with their families and are then dismissed to their children's ministry rooms; nursery and toddler families can head straight to their rooms.
What Common Ground Believes
"Common Ground is a church that invites people of all faith and cultural backgrounds to come together to worship our creator God and his son Jesus Christ." So opens the church's statement of faith. The statement goes on to confess God as Trinity, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior who died and rose again, the Holy Spirit as the active personal presence of God, the kingdom of God as both present reality and future hope, the authority and inspiration of Scripture, salvation as a free gift received by faith through repentance, the church as the body of Christ, and the equality of every person as a bearer of God's image.
The corporate values are listed as Generosity, Belonging, Spirit-Led, Growth, and Justice. The mission statement frames the work as "to call people of all ages to be formed in the image of Jesus, so we can love our neighbors in Indianapolis and around the world." The vision statement describes the church's long-term aim as joining "with God in the reconciliation of all things with the sacrificial love of Jesus." The statement closes with the reminder that these are matters of scriptural interpretation, not tests of faith: "For now we know in part, but one day, we shall know fully."
Children's Ministry: From Nursery Through Fifth Grade
Common Ground Midtown's children's ministry serves children from nursery through fifth grade, with rooms opening at 9:00 AM each Sunday. (During the summer and Advent seasons, the children's rooms close and children worship with their families in the sanctuary.) Each Sunday about 20 volunteers staff the rooms.
At the welcome center, first-time families are registered into the system. Returning families check in and receive a name sticker for the child and a matching tag for the parent or guardian, who presents the matching tag at pickup. In the 2-3 year old room, children gather for circle time, a Bible story, a song, a creative response, free play, and a snack (pretzels are served, with gluten-free pretzels available).
From PreK through third grade, classrooms use the Godly Play curriculum, a Montessori-style approach in which a storyteller presents a sacred story, children are invited to "wonder" together about its meaning, and each child responds in their own way. "Godly Play is not about keeping children entertained or just about learning lessons," the church explains. "It is about understanding how each of the stories of God's people connect with the child's own experience and relationship with God." The 4th and 5th grade class reads and discusses a Bible passage together and responds corporately or individually.
A separate ministry called Every Child Belongs supports children with disabilities and neurodivergent needs. The team provides environmental and programming accommodations, and families can pre-register with specific information about their child. Sensory supports available during weekend services include noise-canceling headphones, weighted blankets or lap buddies, and fidget toys.
Parents are encouraged to subscribe to the Saturday morning parenting email for resources and family activities. The church also offers child dedication for parents who want to make a public commitment to raise their child in the way of Jesus, along with guides to baptism and communion for older children.
The Pilgrimage Initiative: Markers on a Teen's Journey
The youth ministry gathers sixth through twelfth graders on the first, third, and fourth Sundays of each month during the school year. Theologically, the ministry follows a contemplative approach drawn from writers such as Mark Yacconelli and the Ignatian tradition, emphasizing practices such as lectio divina, meditation, study, prayer, and journaling. "When we gather together, we pray and worship, fellowship and read the Bible," the church describes. "We often go to sacred places and we listen to the voice of God. We have a lot of fun too." Youth ministry is also family-based, working intentionally alongside parents and mentors rather than replacing them.
The Pilgrimage Initiative is the longer arc that begins when a student enters youth group and concludes with graduation. It includes seven milestones: E.P.I.C., a three-day welcome adventure for new sixth graders; the Rite of Passage, a year-long journey of intentional mentoring; Direction 101, an eighth-grade year focused on discernment; Revolution, a five-month catechism-style study; Wilderness, a week-long backcountry trip in Algonquin Provincial Park, Canada; Mission, a four-day urban experience walking the streets of Toronto; and Direction 201, a junior and senior year space for spiritual direction. The arc concludes with a Culmination celebration for graduating seniors.
The year launches at Beginnings Camp in August and gathers again with other Common Ground campuses at Snow Camp every January at Blair Lake Bible Camp in Jones, Michigan, a long weekend of sledding, worship, teaching, and a polar bear plunge.
Stephen Ministry and Pastoral Care
Common Ground Midtown operates a Stephen Ministry program, a network of trained laypeople who provide confidential one-on-one emotional and spiritual care to people walking through grief, illness, divorce, job loss, and other difficult seasons. "A Stephen Minister is a trained layperson who provides confidential, one-on-one emotional and spiritual care," the church explains. "Stephen Ministers are not counselors or therapists. They offer Christ-centered support and walk alongside individuals as they heal." Stephen Ministers listen with a compassionate, non-judgmental presence, meet with their care receivers weekly, pray with and for them, and maintain strict confidentiality.
The intake process begins with a care request form, followed by a meeting with a pastor, then placement with a Stephen Minister. Liz Donaldson leads the Stephen Ministry team. Pastoral conversations and prayer are also available with the church's four pastors: Jeff Krajewski (Senior Pastor), Jim Matthies (Pastor of Formission), Hazel Owens (Associate Pastor of Preaching and Teaching), and Cidney Callahan (Associate Pastor of Worship). Hazel Owens, who is also a licensed marriage and family therapist and runs Owens Counseling and Consulting Services, leads pastoral care for women in particular.
Table Groups, Men's Breakfasts, and Women's Gatherings
For adults, the church's primary vehicle for community life is the Table Group, a small group that meets in homes or other settings around the city. The Connections Pathway walks newcomers from a first visit through Discover Midtown, the Foundations class (which covers the church's vision, values, and ministry philosophy), and on into a Table Group or a ministry team.
Men's ministry happens in two tracks: informal gatherings organized by men at the church and posted on the CG Midtown Men BAND app, and intentional gatherings, including a weekly Wednesday breakfast from 7:00 to 8:30 AM at Illinois Street Food Emporium. Jim Matthies oversees men's ministry. Women's ministry is led by Midtowner Nicole Krajewski with the support of Hazel Owens and a team of other women at the church.
Mission Partners in Indianapolis and Around the World
Common Ground Midtown organizes its mission work around three priorities: caring for the marginalized, participating in the flourishing of the neighborhood, and sending church planters and missionaries.
In the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, the church partners with the Martin Luther King Center, a multi-generational resource for residents of the Mid-North neighborhoods; James Whitcomb Riley School 43, an Indianapolis Public School; Heritage Place, which shares the Midtown building and provides services for older adults; and Boulevard Place Food Pantry, a food assistance ministry. On quarterly Faith Beyond Four Walls service days, congregants also serve together in practical projects, including recent flood response in the neighborhood.
Beyond Indianapolis, the church supports Circle City Fellows, a fellowship that integrates faith and work for young adults in the city; PATH International (formerly Otino Waa), a ministry in northern Uganda that provides education, nourishment, and care to more than 300 orphaned and vulnerable children through a Children's Village and a Community Care program; and YFC Lebanon, a youth organization known for camps, clubs, and presence on school campuses that has launched a compassion ministry for refugees. The church also walks alongside individual ministry partners, including Sandee Falk (with the Navigators), Mackenzie Harmon (a campus staff minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Marian University and IUPUI), and Scott and Joann R. (with Barnabas International, providing spiritual direction for cross-cultural workers).
An Elder-Led Church
The Midtown campus is governed by an elder team that shepherds the people, vision, finances, and partnerships of the church. "The elders at Common Ground Midtown shepherd the people, vision, finances, and partnerships of the church," the church describes. "Collectively, the elders carry the responsibility and authority of the church, and steward the spiritual, relational, and financial health of the church body." Decisions are pursued through a Spirit-led process of discernment and consensus, with leadership delegated to staff and ministry teams for day-to-day ministry.
Tim Dooley and David Raes serve as co-lead elders. The wider elder team includes Beth Crum, Liz Donaldson, Olivia Hawbaker VanDuyn, Jeff Krajewski (Lead Pastor), Danielle Madrazo, Jim Matthies (Pastor of Formission), Jim Morris, Alex Overhiser, and Shannon Wildman.
Stewardship, Snow Patrol, and Building for the Future
Giving can be done online, by check mailed to 4550 N Illinois Street, by stock donation, and via the offering box in the church vestibule. Annual reports and quarterly financial updates are posted publicly for transparency. A capital campaign titled Building for the Future underwrites improvements to the Midtown campus.
A volunteer Snow Patrol helps clear walkways, steps, and the parking lot during the winter months, with volunteers called into action before and after Sunday worship and during other church activities. The Children's Ministry, Youth Ministry, Worship Ministry, Hospitality Ministry, and a Coffee Team each welcome new volunteers, with commitments ranging from twenty minutes before one Sunday service a month to regular midweek rehearsal for the worship team. The worship team welcomes vocalists and instrumentalists (bass, acoustic, electric guitar, keys) from high school upward, as well as sound engineers and tech team members running ProPresenter and the livestream.