Jerome Christian Church meets on the east side of Greentown, Indiana, where two Sunday morning services and a Sunday school hour fill a building designed for families. The church sits at 9535 East 100 South, with a children's wing that opens off the west end of the building, a preschool that shares the campus, and a steady stream of activities aimed at everyone from nursery-age babies through college students. Members identify simply as "Christian Church," a Restoration Movement heritage built on the conviction that the Bible is the sole authority for faith and practice.
Two Sunday Services and a Sunday School Hour
Sunday mornings at Jerome Christian Church begin with a Sunday school hour at 9:15 AM that runs alongside two identical morning worship services at 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM. The doors open early, with complimentary coffee and donuts just inside the main entrance and a Guest Services desk where visitors can pick up a welcome bag and have their questions answered.
The Sunday school hour offers classes for nearly every age and stage. Andrew Heck leads a Study of Revelation in Room 4. Balancing Life's Demands, taught by Rex LaRowe, meets in Room 5. Young Adults, for those out of high school through age 30, gathers in Room 3 with Jonathan Keith. Middle school and high school students meet in the Mission House with Jonathan Greene.
The two morning worship services share the same shape. Both include a blend of traditional hymns and contemporary songs, the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper, a time of offering, and a message from God's Word. The 10:30 AM service is livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person.
A Full Children's Wing from Nursery Through Fifth Grade
The children's wing at Jerome Christian Church is built around the conviction that "learning about God should be anything but boring." Three distinct ministries run at the same time as the worship services, all accessible at the west end of the building.
Nursery is fully staffed for babies through about age two. Wee Worship welcomes potty-trained children through age five, with a video lesson, snack, games, and worship each Sunday. Kids Zone, for kindergarten through fifth grade, runs its own service each Sunday, complete with worship, a memory verse, communion, games, a lesson, and prizes.
Beyond Sunday morning, the children's ministry runs a busy calendar. Elementary-age kids go swimming, play laser tag, attend overnight retreats, and go to camp. The church hosts pizza and ice cream parties and family movie nights throughout the year. Vacation Bible School fills part of the summer, and a Sweet Treat Harvest event takes place each fall.
On Sunday evenings during the school year, Kids Rock meets from 5:00 to 6:30 PM. The fast-paced program is designed for elementary students in kindergarten through fifth grade and includes group games, snacks, worship, a lesson, and prizes.
JCC Preschool: A Day of Discovery on the Same Campus
The JCC Preschool operates out of the same building as the church, offering a half-day program for young children with Brooke Miller serving as Preschool Director. A typical preschool day begins with center time, when children use their imagination and develop motor and social skills through a variety of stations. Circle time follows, with pledges, calendar, weather, shapes, numbers, and colors taught through song and finger play, along with age-appropriate Bible stories.
Small group and table work introduce letters, numbers, and monthly themes such as apples, fall harvest, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, pets, winter, polar animals, hibernation, healthy eating, teeth, and spring. A snack time, recess, and more small group work round out the morning, and the day closes with a final story and review of the morning's work.
Special events punctuate the year, including a Thanksgiving feast, a Christmas program, donuts with dad, muffins with mom, a grandparents' and special person's day, field trips, a picnic for the threes, and a graduation ceremony for the pre-K class.
Middle School, High School, and College Students Far from Home
Junior high and senior high students meet for youth group on Sunday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 PM during the school year. The format includes games, snacks, worship, a lesson, and small groups. Jonathan Greene serves as the Youth Minister and uses the Remind app to keep students and families up to date on events and announcements.
For college students who have moved away from home, the church runs a Sunshine Box outreach. Parents fill out a questionnaire with their student's favorite snacks, dietary restrictions, preferred gas or restaurant gift cards, and any other helpful items. The ministry looks carefully toward these students through the college season, sending care packages to them at their school addresses and letting them know the church family is thinking of them.
One Child, One Hour, One Church, One School
Jerome Christian Church partners with a local elementary school through Kids Hope USA, a church-school mentoring program that pairs adult church members with at-risk elementary students. Each mentor gives one hour a week to one student at the partner school, building a one-on-one relationship that addresses emotional, social, and academic needs. Michelle Mohring serves as the Director of Kids Hope for the Eastern region.
Show Low, Arizona: An Annual Mission Trip
Each fall, the church sends a mission team to Show Low, Arizona, to serve alongside Pete and Kim Kemp and the ministry of AICM among the White Mountain Apache people. The trip welcomes all ages, with special opportunities for those who can handle hands-on construction work such as flooring and roofing. Children not yet in high school must be accompanied by a parent.
Beliefs Built on the Bible Alone
The Bible is the sole authority for faith and practice at Jerome Christian Church. The statement of beliefs opens with the conviction that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, written down by forty authors over about 1,600 years and gathered into the sixty-six books that speak with God's authority through the individual styles of its writers. "It teaches us how to live and how to stay on the right path. No other writings are so inspired by God."
The church teaches belief in one true and holy God, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God, fully divine and fully human, conceived miraculously and born of a virgin, who lived a perfect life, voluntarily died on the cross for sin, and bodily arose on the third day. He will return in judgment to gather His people to Himself.
Those who experience union with Christ through salvation are united with His spiritual body, the Church. Wherever Christians meet regularly under the leadership of elders and other appointed leaders, there is a local expression of the Church. The church family works together in love and unity, under the guidance of elders, staff, and other supportive leaders, to extend the Kingdom of God on earth.
Salvation by Grace Through Faith
Mankind was created in the image of God to have fellowship with Him, but every person who has reached an age of responsibility has sinned against God by choosing their own way and brought death into the world. Personal salvation is available only through the person and work of Jesus Christ, by God's grace, and cannot be earned. The church teaches that salvation is through faith in Christ's redemptive work on the cross, that it occurs at baptism, and that it launches the believer into a fresh, new life.
Baptism by Immersion
Baptism by immersion is taught as an act of humble obedience that portrays the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The church identifies baptism with the forgiveness of sins, the receiving of the Holy Spirit, becoming part of the church, and beginning a new life. It is preceded by trusting faith, real repentance, and confessing Jesus as Lord.
The Indwelling Holy Spirit at Baptism
The Holy Spirit comes to live within every Christian at the moment of salvation. Acts 2:38-39 is cited as the key text: repent, be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's indwelling work is to empower believers for transformation, to build up the church, and to enable service in the world. The Spirit is described as a temple, a dwelling place, who has moved in to stay, beginning at Christian baptism.
The Lord's Supper Every Sunday
The Lord's Supper, also called communion, is observed every Sunday. Unleavened bread and unfermented fruit of the vine represent the pure body and blood of Jesus. The Lord's Supper is a spiritual communion with the risen Christ, a proclamation of His death, and a time for believers to remember Christ, examine their lives, ask God for forgiveness, and personally rededicate themselves in service.
Conditional Security: A Biblical View of Falling from Grace
The church explicitly rejects the doctrine of eternal security, often summarized as "once saved, always saved." Several passages are cited in support of the position that a believer can fall from grace. Among the key texts are John 8:31 ("if you continue in My word"), John 15:1-6 (the vine and the branches), Romans 11:17-22 (the olive tree), 1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ("if you hold fast"), Colossians 1:21-23 ("if indeed you continue in the faith"), Galatians 5:4 ("you have fallen from grace"), 2 Peter 2:20-22, and Hebrews 6:4-8. The church teaches that the responsibility for remaining in a saved state belongs to the believer, and that faith can die through sudden renunciation, slow starvation, or being choked by sin.
Predestination and Free Will
Predestination, in the church's teaching, is grounded in God's foreknowledge of free-will choices. God predestines believers to enjoy the benefits of salvation, but does not predestine anyone to become or remain a believer. This view is explicitly distinguished from Calvinism, which the statement says teaches a predestination to faith itself.
The Trinity, the Devil, and the Church
The statement of beliefs answers a long-running series of member-submitted questions about the Trinity, the origin of Satan, the nature of demons as fallen angels, the distinction between Israel as a modern parliamentary democracy and biblical Israel, the intermediate state between death and resurrection, the doctrine of biblical marriage, the biblical pattern of forgiveness and forgetting, and the difference between being abundantly blessed and being humble. The same series addresses contemporary questions such as the biblical perspective on gender identity, how to pray for healing, and the believer's relationship to civil government.
Pastors, Elders, and the Work of the Church
Jason Hight serves as Senior Minister of the congregation. Peter Heck serves as Preaching Minister. Jonathan Greene leads the youth ministry, and his wife Ashley Greene serves as Director of Children's Ministries. Jonathan Keith leads the Young Adults ministry, Kyle Lewis directs worship, and Jenny Heck directs communications. Debbie Crabtree serves as Office Manager. Brooke Miller directs the preschool, and Michelle Mohring serves as Director of Kids Hope for the Eastern region.
Five men serve as elders: Ben Reed, John Dean, Dave Mohring, Matt Adams, and Denny Bagley. The elders provide spiritual oversight and care for the congregation, working alongside the staff and other leaders to extend the work of the Kingdom. Members also preach and teach in various capacities: Andrew Heck leads the Study of Revelation class on Sunday mornings, Rex LaRowe teaches Balancing Life's Demands, and others serve as small group leaders with the youth ministry.
Visiting Greentown
Jerome Christian Church is located at 9535 East 100 South in Greentown, Indiana. The mailing address is PO Box 127, Greentown, IN 46936. The church phone is 765-628-3126, and the general email is church@jeromecc.org. Office hours run Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM and on Friday from 8:00 AM to noon.
Visitors can expect a friendly welcome at the Guest Services desk, where a welcome bag, coffee, and donuts are available before either worship service. The blend of traditional hymns and contemporary music, along with the weekly observance of communion, gives the morning a recognizable shape. Children of every age have a place to be: nursery for babies, Wee Worship for preschoolers, Kids Zone for elementary students, the Mission House for teens, and JCC Preschool during the week. The two Sunday services, the Sunday school hour at 9:15 AM, the Sunday evening Kids Rock for elementary students, and the youth group for middle and high school students make it possible for an entire family to be involved at every stage.
Giving is available in several ways. Online giving is processed through Vanco and the Vanco Mobile app, with the church covering all processing fees. In-person gifts may be placed in the offering during either service or brought to the church office during the week. Checks may be mailed to the PO Box. Most banks also offer free electronic fund transfers directly to the church for regular, recurring gifts.
The building is available for community events. Those interested in hosting an event can submit a Building Request Form online. Spaces that may be reserved include the Cafe and Youth Room, the Lobby, the Worship Center, the Main Kitchen, and Rooms 4, 5, 8, and 9. The worship services, along with sermons, midweek updates, and the church calendar, can all be followed online, and the church keeps a steady rhythm of preaching, teaching, and family ministry from one week to the next.