A Multi-Generational Church on MacArthur Road
First Christian Church sits on North MacArthur Road on the north side of Decatur, Illinois, in a building the congregation has occupied since 1996. What began with a single sermon preached in a log courthouse in 1833 has grown into a multi-generational, non-denominational church whose mission is to develop devoted followers of Jesus Christ by growing and serving together. The church describes itself in that simple language, and the rhythm of its life follows it: a weekend built around three identical worship services, weeknight Bible studies for men, women, and young adults, deep investment in kids and students, an in-house café, an extensive care ministry that includes a mental health team, and a slate of local and global mission partnerships.
The address is 3350 N MacArthur Road. Three weekend services are offered, all identical and streamed live: Saturday at 5pm, and Sunday at 8:45am and 10:30am. Communion is served every week. Worship is contemporary, the sermons are Bible-centered, and the services typically run a little over an hour. A sensory-friendly gathering is held simultaneously with the Saturday 5pm service in the East Auditorium, and FirstKids and Student Life programming runs alongside every weekend gathering. Visitors are invited to wear whatever they like, casual or formal, because the church family does both.
Heritage: From a 1833 Log Courthouse to MacArthur Road
The congregation's extraordinary heritage traces back to Joseph Hostetler, who preached his first sermon in 1833 in the log courthouse that once stood on the property now occupied by the Transfer House. Toward the end of the 1800s, the congregation moved into a building on Church Street near downtown Decatur, and in 1913 that building was replaced with the classic brick-and-stone structure that still stands in that location today. The congregation outgrew the Church Street building, and in 1996 moved into the current facility on MacArthur Road, which has been expanded several times since to keep up with growth.
The church is non-denominational, but it is affiliated with Disciple Heritage Fellowship, a network that empowers churches and pastors to thrive and fulfill the Great Commission. Randy Roberts serves as the DHF Executive Director and Dr. Rick Grace as the DHF Church Liaison, both listed on the staff team. Wayne Kent, the former long-time pastor, now serves the congregation as Pastor Emeritus. Brian Talty, who has been part of the team since 2004 in roles including Youth Pastor, Family Ministries Pastor, Discipleship Pastor, and Associate Pastor, now serves as Lead Pastor. He holds a bachelor's degree in Youth Ministry from Milligan University in Johnson City, Tennessee, and a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Lincoln Christian Seminary in Lincoln, Illinois.
Worship and a Sensory-Friendly Seat at Every Service
Worship at First Christian is contemporary and Christ-centered. Three identical services meet on the weekend - Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 8:45am and 10:30am - with the same sermon, music, and order each time. Communion is served every week. The music blends a choir, vocal team, instrumentalists, and a production team working behind the cameras and lights. Livestreamed services are available online through the church's online platform, and the entire sermon archive goes back many years on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
The Saturday 5pm gathering in the East Auditorium is the church's sensory-friendly worship service, created for individuals who may be sensitive to lights, sound, crowds, or other sensory input. The room uses gentle lighting without flashing or harsh lights, controlled sound at a consistent lower volume, no fog or special effects, and flexible seating where people can stand, sit, move, or take breaks as needed. The atmosphere is intentionally peaceful and welcoming, designed to create space for rest, reflection, and connection without sensory overload.
FirstKids and Student Life
Children from birth through fifth grade are cared for in FirstKids, the church's family ministry with age-specific environments in the East Auditorium. FirstKids programming runs at every weekend worship service: Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 8:45am and 10:30am. Birth through Pre-K meets on the first floor, and K through fifth grade meets on the second floor. A Guest Check-In Desk sits near the elevator, and a security-tag system is used for both drop-off and pick-up. Every adult volunteer who serves in a family ministry area is a mandated reporter who has undergone a national background check and completed online child sexual abuse training, and approved volunteers wear lanyards with their names and serving roles printed on the tags.
The FirstKids philosophy has a shape: toddlers DISCOVER that God loves them and has good plans for their future, children DETERMINE that God is who He says He is and can be trusted, and teens DEVOTE their lives to following Jesus Christ. Weekly online worship videos are sent to families by email for Birth-PreK and K-5, and milestone events - baby visits in the hospital, baby dedications, a kindergarten celebration, and the SuperStart pre-teen conference - mark the journey. The Mom Co., a ministry for moms of young children, meets the first and third Thursday of each month from September through May. Meghan Fritzsche leads FirstKids Elementary as Elementary Director, with Victoria Behner as Elementary Assistant Director. Kelci Jones serves as Pre-K Director, with Kylie Sutton as Pre-K Assistant Director. A dedicated family ministry text line is available at (217) 747-8392 for questions.
Student Life is the middle school and high school ministry. It meets during the school year with weekly Sunday gatherings from 5:30 to 7pm at the MacArthur Campus, weekly Wednesday gatherings from 7:30 to 9pm at both MacArthur and South Campuses, and a monthly Sunday gathering the last Sunday of the month from 5:30 to 7pm at MacArthur. Student Life is led by Youth Pastor John Billner and Youth Ministry Associate Marcus Lee. Small group leaders invest directly in students, and a parent partnership is built into the rhythm. The ministry's three foundational commitments are woven through its programming: identity in who God says students are, community with other believers, and mission to live out the faith.
Young Adults, Women, Men, and Small Groups
Young Decatur, the young adult ministry, gathers adults aged 18 through 30 on Thursdays from 7 to 8:30pm for community, Bible study, and conversation. Young Decatur is for working adults, college students, and anyone still figuring out what comes next, and the ministry also partners with InterVarsity for Bible studies at Richland Community College. Young Adult Pastor Thomas Hagan leads the ministry.
The Women's Ministry exists to help women relax from the daily grind, renew their relationship with God, and reconnect with other women at the church. An eight-week Bible study runs in two tracks: a Wednesday morning study from 9:30 to 11:30am and a Wednesday evening study from 6:30 to 8pm. Childcare is available for both, and the morning study guide can be purchased through Mosaic Café. Faith 45, a sister ministry under the Women's umbrella, provides support for families experiencing miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss, and is led by Heather Kaloupek.
The Men's Ministry offers both a Wednesday morning study from 7 to 8:30am and a Wednesday evening study from 6:30 to 8pm, walking verse by verse through Ephesians with pastor and author J.D. Greear. Several men's small groups also meet at various times, days, and locations across the community.
Small groups are the backbone of the church's Grow Together strategy. Groups typically include 8 to 12 adults who meet throughout the week either in homes or online. Each group has a specific focus - life stage, interests, geography - and group members commit to sharing life, pursuing God, and investing in others. Discipleship Pastor Matt Gibbs oversees the ministry, and Adam Hamerlinck, the South Campus Pastor, handles small group sign-ups and inquiries.
Care Ministries and Mental Health
The Care Ministries Team provides Christ-centered care to people in the congregation and in the local community during all seasons of life. Robert Henderson serves as Pastor of Community Care and Chris Vieth as Care Ministries Pastor, with Heather Kaloupek, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, leading the mental health work. The Care Team is the church's primary touchpoint for hospital visitation, nursing home visits, and homebound ministry, and the team can be reached at care@firstdecatur.org.
Mental health is a particular focus. The church has curated an extensive Mental Health Resource Guide available as a free PDF, and a sermon series on the topic has been taught in seven sessions, covering topics like depression, suicide, stress, worry, anxiety, identity, and hope. A weekly scripture list, recommended apps (One Minute Pause, YouVersion, Dwell Audio Bible, Abide, Lectio 365), and a curated reading list are all available. Local partners include Heritage Behavioral Health, Crossing Healthcare, and the United Way #211 line; state and national partners include the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the Illinois Helpline, the Veterans Crisis Line, Celebrate Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Al-Anon Family Groups.
Chaplaincy is a distinctive part of the care ministry. Susan Liu, Dee Franz, and Jeffrey Ruffin serve as chaplains who provide spiritual care at Decatur Memorial Hospital and Crossing Healthcare, offering 24/7 chaplaincy care at DMH. Marriage mentoring, premarital counseling using the SYMBIS assessment, and an annual Night to Shine event in partnership with the Tim Tebow Foundation and GT Church round out the care picture. Chris Vieth leads marriage ministry.
Mosaic Café
Step inside the front of the building and the first thing that greets many people is the fireplace in Mosaic Café. Mosaic is a full-service café featuring a wide variety of hot and cold beverages and tasty treats, with espresso drinks, pastries, and seasonal drink specials. The café is open Monday through Thursday from 7 to 11am, Saturday from 4 to 6pm, and Sunday from 7:30am to noon, closed on Fridays. Free Wi-Fi and a daily newspaper are available, and the space is designed to be a place to relax, study, remote-office, or catch up with a friend. Curbside pickup is offered by calling (217) 875-9490.
All profits from Mosaic Café go to support the ministries of the church, and the café serves as a frontline of evangelism and ministry to the wider Decatur community. Caden Reavis leads the team, and the café carries a small selection of merchandise - Mosaic t-shirts, notebooks, and a few Christian resources. Volunteers are welcome to join the team by contacting Caden at creavis@firstdecatur.org or (217) 875-9094.
Community Missions in Decatur
Community Missions Pastor Nic Mayberry oversees the church's local work, which is built around five major outreach efforts. The Block Neighborhood Ministry grows friendships and shares faith through family-friendly events in a portion of the GM Square Neighborhood. Club 305 is a free after-school program for students of Parsons Elementary School that runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from September through May, with the goal of building relationships with students and helping them develop academically, socially, personally, and spiritually.
The Care Ministry's Visitation Team reaches out to those who are sick, suffering, and alone, visiting hospitals, nursing homes, and homebound members. The Chaplaincy Team, as described above, provides spiritual care at Decatur Memorial Hospital and Crossing Healthcare. The Arts Academy provides free classes in the arts to students and adults in the community, with K-1 storybook art, 2nd-3rd grade art, 4th-6th grade art, a high-school-through-adult art class, lyrical dance for K-4th grade, lyrical dance for 5th-12th grade, and intermediate sewing. Andrea Grunden leads the Arts Academy.
Finally, the Good Samaritan Inn ministry serves meals twice a month - one Monday a month and one weekend day a month (Saturday or Sunday) - and partners with that food ministry to bring relief to people in need.
Global Missions
First Christian's global missions work is built around long-standing partnerships. The Leonard family moved to Kenya in the Fall of 2023 to join in over three decades of FCC-partnered missionary work there, training and sending missionaries from Kenya to the world. The partnership is specifically in the areas of youth ministry, church planting, disciple-making movements, and helping disciple-makers start small businesses to support their families and ministry. Ravshan and Lisa, who spent 20+ years as missionaries in Central Asia, now serve with the Jesus Film Project out of CRU's global headquarters, using modern forms of media to take the gospel of Jesus into hard to reach places around the world.
The church also offers Family Missions Experiences for cross-cultural mission trips for all ages, with a family mission trip set for June 2026 to the Dominican Republic. Adam Hamerlinck coordinates global missions, and the church's mission framework follows three words: Experience, Engage, and Transform.
Beliefs and Statement of Faith
First Christian's beliefs are summarized in a detailed Statement of Faith built around twelve core convictions: the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God; the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; God the Father as infinite personal Spirit; Jesus Christ as true God and true human, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, who lived a sinless life, died a substitutionary death on the cross, rose bodily, ascended to heaven, and will return visibly; the Holy Spirit who applies Christ's saving work; humanity created in the image of God and fallen into sin; salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ; the Church as a spiritual body with Christ as its head; the ordinances of baptism and communion; faithful Christian living; and a final resurrection and judgment.
The church practices baptism by immersion for those able to profess personal faith in Christ, and baptism by other methods is accepted for membership. Communion is observed weekly. Four core values shape how the church operates day to day: We respond to God's Word, We build community, We encounter the Holy Spirit, We embrace change.
The South Campus Launch
A South Campus is in active renovation and preparation. Adam Hamerlinck serves as South Campus Pastor and is building a launch team for a planned opening in February 2027. The South Campus is intended as a new expression of the church in the southern part of Macon County, and members of First Christian are invited to join the launch team in hospitality, FirstKids, worship, production, front office, or general launch support.
How to Get Connected
First Christian Church offers several entry points for newcomers. The Start Here table at the main entrance is staffed every weekend to answer questions. First Steps is a 30-minute informational gathering that meets after each worship service on the second weekend of most months, held in The Hub and led by Connections Director Abbey Luka. For online attendees, Abbey also offers to meet over coffee, by phone, or on Zoom during the week.
RightNow Media is offered as a free benefit to the congregation, providing an extensive library of faith-based videos for kids, youth, parents, married couples, college students, single adults, and working professionals. The I'll Start mental health podcast, hosted by Heather Kaloupek, Morgan Arseneau, and Fred Saurmann, raises awareness and bridges the gap between mental health and faith. Audio sermons are available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and through the church's mobile app. The church has its own mobile app for iPhone.
For visitors, the church office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The mailing address is 3350 N MacArthur Road, Decatur, IL 62526. The phone number is (217) 875-3350, and the general email is questions@firstdecatur.org. Texting the church at that same number reaches the front office and is the fastest way to connect with staff. Giving is available online, by texting FIRSTDECATUR to 73256, during weekend services, by mail, or by stopping by the office during the week.