Indian Hills Community Church has gathered around verse-by-verse exposition of the Bible on the east side of Nebraska's capital since 1959. From its pulpit on South 84th Street, the church has steadily worked its way through books of the Old and New Testaments with the conviction that Scripture is the verbally inspired, inerrant Word of God and the final authority for faith and life. Jesse Randolph, installed on June 5, 2022 as the church's Pastor-Teacher, continues the pattern of systematic, line-upon-line preaching that has defined the congregation for more than six decades. Under his teaching and alongside a team of pastors, elders, deacons, and ministry directors, the church pursues a single aim: to glorify God by preaching His Word, equipping the saints, and reaching the lost in Lincoln and beyond.
Verse by Verse, Book by Book
Indian Hills is built on the conviction that the Bible is to be preached systematically through entire books. The pulpit ministry aims to teach the Scripture line-upon-line so that every follower of Christ can deepen in understanding and learn to rightly apply the Word to life. The sermon archive lists decades of completed books - Genesis, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 1 Peter, Philippians, Ephesians, Titus, Revelation - each in series of two or three dozen messages. Pastor Jesse currently works through the Gospel of Luke on Sunday mornings and a rotating systematics series, titled "Summer in the Systematics," on Sunday evenings, while Pastor Michael Otazu preaches through shorter books such as Titus and 2 Samuel on the Hearts Aflame series.
A free IHCC Daily Bible Reading Plan walks readers through Old Testament history and poetry, New Testament narrative, and New Testament epistles in a year, with parallel tracks available as a PDF and on YouVersion.
Three Services on Sundays
The weekly rhythm centers on three Sunday gatherings. Sunday School meets at 9:00 a.m. throughout the building. Children's Sunday School for ages 2-1/2 through 5th grade gathers upstairs in rooms 2209-2323, while adults meet in the Bible Learning Center in classes such as 180 Fellowship, Doxa, HIS, LIFE, LOGOS, and The Foundry. Childcare is provided during the Sunday School hour for children two and under.
The Morning Worship Service begins at 10:00 a.m. in the Auditorium. The congregation sings doctrinally rich songs with the orchestra, band, and choir, followed by the preaching of God's Word. Nursery care is available for the youngest children, and elementary students sit with their families for the music portion before being dismissed to Children's Church in the chapel for an age-appropriate Bible lesson.
A second worship service meets at 6:00 p.m. for continued study of God's Word, with nursery care and three children's programs running alongside: Sonshine Kids for 4-year-olds through kindergarten, Boys of Faith for grades 1 through 6, and Girls of Grace for grades 1 through 6. Communion is observed on the first and third Sundays of the month at the conclusion of the morning service.
First-time visitors are welcomed at the Welcome Center near the south entrance. A volunteer offers a welcome bag containing information about the ministries, a map of the building, a letter from the pastor, and some chocolates, and is glad to give a mini-tour of the building after the service. The church building includes the Auditorium, the Chapel, the Bible Learning Center, the Family Center gym, and the choir room, with children's classrooms on the second floor.
Wednesday Nights Around the Auditorium
Wednesday evenings gather the whole church family for Bible-centered programs that run in parallel. Girls' Choir, open to girls in fourth through twelfth grade, rehearses from 4:45 to 6:00 p.m. in the Choir Room. The orchestra, praise team, and band rehearse at 6:00 p.m. in the Auditorium, with the choir following at 6:45 p.m.
At 6:30 p.m., three programs begin at once. Adventure Club welcomes children from age 3 through fifth grade for Bible lessons, team games, Scripture memorization, and music; original songs set the weekly memory verses to tunes that the children sing throughout the week. JHAM, the Junior High Alive Ministry, gathers students in grades 6 through 8 in Room 1430 for Bible study, singing, small groups, and fellowship, overseen by a team of adult sponsors. In the Chapel, the Pastors' Pulpit series walks through the Psalms on Wednesday evenings for teens and adults.
The Deaf Ministry hosts its own Wednesday-evening Bible study at 6:30 p.m. during the spring and fall semesters, in addition to the ASL interpretation provided at every Sunday service.
Children from Nursery Through Sixth Grade
Indian Hills invests heavily in the spiritual formation of children, joining hands with parents to plant seeds of the gospel that will eventually grow into a life dedicated to following Christ faithfully.
The Nursery/WeeCare ministry, led by Deacon Ben Duval, provides trained care for infants through 2-year-olds in rooms 1310-1320 on the first floor during every service, with an on-duty registered nurse and vetted volunteers. Children's Church, overseen by Deacon Jim Aust, dismisses kindergartners through fifth graders from the morning service for grade-specific Bible teaching in the chapel.
Sonshine Kids meets on Sunday evenings for 4-year-olds through kindergarten, dismissing during the music portion of the 6:00 p.m. service for Bible lessons and music upstairs. Adventure Club, led by Deacon Matt Nuttleman, runs through the school year on Wednesday nights with a structured curriculum from Grace Curriculum, covering major Bible doctrines year by year.
Boys of Faith, for boys in grades 1 through 6, meets Sunday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the gym before dispersing to classrooms throughout the Bible Learning Center. The ministry includes Bible lessons, music, games, mentorship, and special events such as the pinewood derby, lock-ins, fall and spring campouts, and Summer Camp. Girls of Grace, led by Deacon Steve DeRiese, runs in parallel for girls in grades 1 through 6, with Bible study, music instruction, and training in baking, babysitting, meal planning, sewing, cleaning, gardening, manners, and etiquette, alongside special events like the Mother-Daughter Tea, Daddy-Daughter Date Night, Fall Retreat, and Summer Camp.
For one week each summer, Vacation Bible School transforms the church into a castle, lagoon, lighthouse, or farm, with Bible lessons, music, crafts, and games for children in the community.
JHAM and Ignite: Junior High and High School
The Junior High Alive Ministry (JHAM), led by John and Denelle Scholle, gathers 6th through 8th graders in Room 1430 on Sunday mornings for Sunday School and on Wednesday evenings at 6:30 p.m. for Bible study. Beyond the regular meetings, JHAM sponsors ski trips, summer camp at Camp Rivercrest, Worlds of Fun outings, game nights, lip-synch contests, swim days, the fall Boys of Faith Fall Campout, and a Jr High Costume Party.
Ignite, the high school ministry led by Elder Benjamin Buhr and Youth Pastor Austin Rugh, meets for Sunday School at 9:00 a.m. in the Bible Learning Center and for a midweek Bible study on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. (with the first Thursday of each month hosted at the Rugh home). The year is filled with camp, ski trips at Sunlight Mountain Resort, fall and game-night parties, a senior trip to Table Rock Lake, and a UNL Big Red Welcome event for incoming freshmen.
Alpha Omega at the AO House
Alpha Omega is the church's college and career ministry, based at the AO House near the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. All college-age young adults are welcome to attend the Thursday Night Bible Study, which meets at 7:00 p.m. year-round for prayer, singing, a teaching time, and discussion, followed by fellowship and a meal at a local restaurant. The group also hosts a fall retreat and a Husker Game Day parking fundraiser each football season. Pastoral intern Andrew teaches weekly at AO and leads campus outreach and evangelism. Ethan Parks, the Director of Digital Media, leads the music for the Alpha Omega college ministry.
Adults: Sunday Schools and Home Bible Studies
For adults, the church's ministries are designed for growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Adult Sunday School classes meet at 9:00 a.m. on Sundays in rooms throughout the Bible Learning Center, each led by a pastor, elder, or qualified teacher. Current classes include 180 Fellowship (taught by Bill Cooley), Doxa (Pastor Michael Otazu), HIS (Scott Bailey), LIFE (Jim Pelton), LOGOS (Greg Thomas), and The Foundry (Toby Free).
Home Bible Studies meet weekly in homes across Lincoln - in southwest, southeast, south, east, northeast, central, and Bennet neighborhoods - as well as at the church building. Studies follow various formats, with childcare available at several locations. Hosts and teachers include Jason and Heather Willet with Matt Marra, Curt and Peggy Kuster with Sam Pelton, Tyler and Lynsi Morten with Tyler Morten and Galen Pfeiffer, Phil and Cori Allendorfer with Jim Titus, Rod and Lois Morten with Rod Morten, Mike and Jen Otazu, Kevin and Tammy Wheat with Randy Feese, and Rob and Joni Schmidt with Rob Schmidt.
Pastors Gordie Coffin and Jeff Horn teach a Fundamentals of the Faith class designed to help believers explore core Christian doctrines and build a spiritual life on a solid biblical foundation.
Titus Tuesday and Men's Equipping
The women's ministry centers on Titus Tuesday, which meets on Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m. or Tuesday mornings at 9:15 a.m. during the school year for light brunch, prayer, Bible study, and discussion. A published schedule walks the women through studies such as "Attitudes of a Transformed Heart" by Martha Peace and "Women of the Bible - Twelve Extraordinary Women," with named units on Eve, Sarah, Miriam, Rahab, Ruth, Hannah, Abigail, Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene, Lydia, and Priscilla. Each February the church hosts a Women's Conference on a Friday evening and Saturday. Once each summer the women gather for Intermission, a salad-and-dessert fellowship with music, testimony, and a special feature.
For men, the church runs Equipping Groups that meet regularly during the spring and fall for fellowship and Bible study, Men's Breakfasts on Saturday mornings, and an annual Men's Conference held over a Friday night and Saturday with guest speakers. Deacon Nicholas Jacobsen oversees Men's Ministries.
The annual Marriage Conference, hosted on a Friday evening and Saturday in early November, brings in guest speakers - Pastor Jack Hughes of Anchor Bible Church in Louisville preached the 2026 conference with his wife Lisa, addressing husbands and wives separately in breakouts. Childcare is provided for children up to age 10. Couples can attend free of charge.
Music: Orchestra, Band, and Choir
The Music Ministry, led by Music Pastor Andrew Thomas, exists to glorify God through beautiful music coupled with rich truths from Scripture. Worship at Indian Hills is led by an orchestra, a band, a choir, and many smaller ensembles, all committed to the conviction that both the words and the music must be excellent. The music team carefully selects songs, weighing the lyrics for doctrinal faithfulness and the tunes for singability, building a catalog of congregational songs that reinforce the same truths taught from the pulpit. The congregation's playlist is available on Spotify.
Girls Choir, open to girls in 4th through 12th grade, sings choral and contemporary Christian music throughout the year, performing at church services and nursing homes and ending each spring with a full concert. The group occasionally goes on tour. Children's Music Ministry events use music as a tool to memorize and contemplate Scripture.
A Family for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
The Deaf Ministry at Indian Hills is more than interpreted services. The team - using a certified ASL interpreter and trained volunteers from the Deaf Ministry Team - interprets both the preaching and music at all Sunday services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing attendees. On Wednesday evenings during the spring and fall, the ministry hosts a hands-on Bible study from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the church. The Deaf Ministry also partners with the women's ministry, music ministry, and children's programs, and posts weekly videos of Sunday morning services to the IHCC Deaf Ministry Facebook page.
Doors, Lakes, Courthouses, and Nursing Homes
Outreach at Indian Hills is a corporate and individual responsibility. The Evangelism Ministry, led by Deacon John Carey, equips members to share the gospel in everyday life.
Planned outreach events run through the spring, summer, and fall. Door-to-Door Evangelism meets at the church on Mondays at 6:00 p.m. to pray, pair up, receive maps, and head into Lincoln neighborhoods to distribute invitations and Gospel tracts. Holmes Lake Evangelism meets at Holmes Lake Park on Wednesdays at 4:45 p.m. for outreach around the Prayer Tower. Courthouse Evangelism meets at the Lancaster County Court Clerk on Fridays at 9:30 a.m. Winter months bring the Boat, Sport, and Travel Show booth and visits to several nursing homes.
The Nursing Home Ministry, led by Deacon Tom Price, provides Sunday afternoon church services at multiple Lincoln facilities. A typical service includes traditional hymns, a Scripture message, special music, and personal visits. The Van Ministry offers rides to church services on Sundays for those from age 4 through adults, and on Wednesdays for children age 4 through 12th grade. The Sowers quilting group meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month to make lap robes for retirement home residents. A monthly Clothing Outlet opens on the second Tuesday of each month, providing free clothing in rooms 1101-1102 across from the chapel.
Sound Words and the Daily Bible Reading Plan
Sound Words is the media ministry of Indian Hills Community Church. The team produces the Sound Words Podcast, available on Buzzsprout, and a YouTube channel of theological teaching videos and discussions. The Daily Bible Reading Plan walks readers through the Old Testament history and poetry, New Testament narrative, and New Testament epistles in a year, and is also available on YouVersion. Discussion Questions accompany each Sunday sermon and are posted weekly on the church's website. Giving is supported online through the church's giving portal, with options for one-time or scheduled donations to the general offering fund or to Sound Words. Non-cash gifts such as stocks, mutual funds, grain commodities, and IRA distributions are also accepted.
Missions Across the Globe
Indian Hills is committed to spreading the gospel and making disciples across the world, proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and making disciples of all nations. The church partners with individuals and groups that align with its Statement of Faith, focusing on training local indigenous pastors, equipping them to lead congregations, plant churches, and serve their communities. Engagement takes shape through financial support, sending short-term teams, providing printed materials, prayer, and strategic connections. The church's published Philosophy for Missions is available as a downloadable PDF.
From a Bible Study in 1959 to Today
The congregation traces its roots to 1959, when an evangelist came to Lincoln with a desire to win souls for Christ and start a church founded on the Word. A Bible study formed at the YMCA, then grew large enough to purchase a building and parsonage at 2011 G Street. The fellowship filed Articles of Incorporation with 42 charter members. As ministries developed and parking became tight, the church purchased three acres on the east edge of Lincoln and built a new facility; the name was changed to Indian Hills Community Church to reflect the neighborhood subdivision, and the 55-member congregation held its first gathering at the new location.
In 1969, Gil Rugh, a young seminary graduate from New Jersey, came to lead the church through in-depth, systematic Bible teaching. Under his steady preaching, ministries were developed for every age and stage, and over 100 men from Indian Hills have since been called to seminary and Bible college. The Timothy Training program trained leaders, and the church's teaching materials reached Bible schools, seminaries, and sister churches around the world. As technology advanced, Gil's sermons were streamed live on the internet, allowing the ministry to reach the most remote places on earth.
On June 5, 2022, Jesse Randolph was installed as the church's Pastor-Teacher, with the stated goal of carrying forward the pattern of biblical, God-honoring, expository teaching.
What We Believe
Indian Hills holds to a detailed Statement of Faith, summarized below in its own terms.
The church believes the Old and New Testaments are the verbally inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God, written by men under God's control, and the final authority in faith and life. The Bible is interpreted using the literal, grammatical-historical system.
The church affirms one God existing eternally in three distinct Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - equal in essence, united in being, and ordered in function. Each Person is affirmed in His distinct work: the Father in creation, election, and the predetermining of all things; the Son in His incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension, and present intercession; and the Holy Spirit in convicting the world, regenerating the spiritually dead, baptizing all believers into the Body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them, and bestowing spiritual gifts.
Salvation is the gift of God's grace, given to the elect, entirely the work of God from initiation to completion, received by faith in His finished work on the cross, and resulting in forgiveness, justification, regeneration, and new birth into the family of God. All the saved are secure in Christ forever, though true faith is expressed by a fruitful, God-pleasing life. Sanctification is both positional and practical, fed by the Word and the Spirit.
The church believes in a personal, pretribulational coming of Christ for His Church and His subsequent premillennial return to earth to establish His kingdom. At death, the souls of the saved pass immediately into Christ's presence; the souls of the unsaved remain in conscious misery until the final judgment of the Great White Throne.
Two ordinances are observed until Christ's return: baptism and the Lord's Supper. Marriage is defined as a lifelong, exclusive relationship between one man and one woman, and the church teaches that all intimate sexual activity outside of marriage, and all conduct intended to adopt a gender other than one's birth gender, is immoral and therefore sin.
Leadership
Jesse Randolph serves as Pastor-Teacher. He holds an MDiv from The Master's Seminary and a ThM from Shepherds Theological Seminary, and has spoken and written widely for other churches and organizations.
Gordie Coffin serves as Executive Pastor, overseeing the administrative and operational aspects of the church after 17 years in college admissions. Aaron Nicholson, a pastor since 2011, oversees college, online, and connections ministries and co-hosts the Sound Words Podcast while pursuing an MTS at Shepherds Theological Seminary. Michael Otazu, an Associate Pastor, oversees adult ministries and preaches on the Hearts Aflame series while studying in the MDiv program at The Master's Seminary. Austin Rugh leads the student and children's ministries as Youth Pastor. Andrew Thomas is the Music Pastor, overseeing the orchestra, band, and choir. Curt Kuster and Greg Thomas serve on the Visitation Team, visiting the hospitalized and homebound. Gil Rugh, who retired as senior pastor in June 2022 after 52-plus years of ministry, continues as a pastor. Don Goertzen, formerly the church's executive pastor from 1973 to 2005, taught the Wednesday night class for over two decades.
The elders include Scott Bailey, Benjamin Buhr (who oversees Ignite High School Ministry), Andy Frahm, Rob Jensen, Duane Leach, and Steve Snyder. Deacons serve across the ministries: John Carey leads the Evangelism Ministry; Steve DeRiese oversees Girls of Grace; Ben Duval oversees the Nursery/WeeCare; Jonathan Goodding oversees Boys of Faith; Jeff Horn serves on the Visitation team; Nicholas Jacobsen oversees Men's Ministries; Tom Jordison organizes Communion and helps at Adventure Club; Matt Nuttleman leads Adventure Club; Galen Pfeiffer serves in connections and young adult ministry; Luke Pietzyk leads the Connections team of greeters, Welcome Center, section hosts, and ushers; Tom Price oversees the nursing home ministry; John Scholle produces media and oversees Junior High Ministry with his wife; Jim Aust teaches Children's Church; and Brad Andreesen serves in visitation. Pastor Randolph also serves on the elder board.