On the west side of Muncie, Indiana, on West Jackson Street, Muncie Alliance Church (known to just about everyone as MAC) is a fellowship whose reputation precedes it long before the sermon does. People in Delaware County know it as the Coffee Church, a nickname earned honestly by the professional espresso machine humming in the lobby every Sunday morning. MAC is part of The Alliance (the Christian and Missionary Alliance), a movement founded by A.B. Simpson in 1890, and the congregation's heartbeat is summed up in three words painted across its values: communion, community, and commission. The mission statement on the church's own materials reads, "To be formed as a people who know and love Jesus and allow His life to flow through us to each other, to Delaware County, and beyond."
Communion, Community, and Commission
MAC organizes its life around three values, in this order. Communion, in the church's vocabulary, points to the work of the Holy Spirit bringing people into the very presence of God. Community describes a body called to love one another the way God loves, a unity Jesus prayed the church would share with the Father and the Son. Commission names the church's outward call to join Jesus in making disciples, locally in Delaware County and globally through partnerships with missionaries serving among unreached people groups.
The church is unapologetically evangelical in its convictions. MAC believes the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that humanity was created for relationship with Him, that sin has marred every aspect of the world, and that God sent Jesus, fully God and fully human, to live, die, and rise again so that all who receive Him can be restored. Salvation, the church teaches, is not earned but received, by acknowledging our need, believing in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord. The full gospel narrative walks readers from Genesis through Revelation.
A Sunday Morning That Starts With Espresso
The rhythm at MAC on Sunday mornings is unhurried and personal. People begin arriving around 9:30 a.m., chatting in the lobby while someone pulls shots of espresso, steams milk for a latte, or pours hot chocolate and tea. Children whose families want to check them in early can be registered in MACKiDS as early as 9:45 a.m., and parents are welcome to grab a free drink while the paperwork is completed.
At 10:00 a.m. the whole congregation, kids included, files into the sanctuary. There are no assigned seats. Bulletins with announcements and space for notes are handed out, along with an activity page and crayons for children. Worship opens with songs, and the worship team leads in both traditional and contemporary music. Some Sundays the band is full (drums, guitars, keys, and vocals), and other Sundays the team plays acoustically with just a guitar and keyboard. Songs range from "Christ is my firm Foundation" to "How Great Is Our God." Pastor Greg Lex describes worship as "pursuit, adoration, expression, gratitude, praise, awe, and reverence. In short, it's an encounter with God."
After the singing, during a brief greeting time, children are dismissed to their own age-appropriate classes, and the adults settle in for 20 to 30 minutes of teaching. MAC works through books of the Bible in sequence, often spending many weeks in a single book before moving to the next. The service ends with another song or two, occasionally with communion, and runs just over an hour. Visitors are not asked to stand up and introduce themselves, though the congregation is friendly and anyone is welcome to grab coffee afterward and stay for a conversation.
MACKiDS: From Nursery Through Fifth Grade
MACKiDS, the children's ministry, runs from nursery through fifth grade and meets during the sermon portion of the Sunday service. Children start in the sanctuary with their families for worship and are then released to their classes. The curriculum comes from Discovery Land through The Alliance, built around four pillars MAC calls the Four Rights: know, think, do, and feel. The aim is "a biblical worldview so they are ready for today, tomorrow, and eternity."
On a typical Sunday, all the children gather first in the Fireside Room for an activity, Bible memory games, and a combined lesson, with adult volunteers (all background-checked) helping. Preschoolers then move to their own room, and the nursery stays open the entire morning for the littlest ones. For nursing mothers, there is also a "Mommy & Me" room at the back of the sanctuary with a one-way viewing window for privacy. Jenny Barrett directs MACKiDS.
MVMNT Student Ministries in the Warehouse
Sunday evenings belong to the students. MVMNT Student Ministries gathers every Sunday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Warehouse, a separate building right next door to the main church. Open to youth in grades 6 through 12, MVMNT begins outside or in the sanctuary with games like 9Square, then moves into the Warehouse for snacks, worship, teaching, and small-group time split by middle school and high school. The dress code is casual and the leaders make a point of welcoming questions, "silly or serious."
Scott Zick, an elder of the church, directs MVMNT. All adult volunteers are background-checked. In addition to Sunday nights, MVMNT holds quarterly service projects and fun nights.
Prayer at 9:00 in the Blue Room
Before the Sunday worship service begins, MAC holds a focused prayer hour in the Blue Room at 9:00 a.m. Led by Mary Westergren, the prayer time is deliberately relaxed. People drift in and out throughout the hour as they arrive and as they move on to other responsibilities, praying aloud or quietly, whichever they are comfortable with. The atmosphere is meant to be encouraging rather than formal, and newcomers are welcomed. MAC believes that prayer, in its many forms, is one of the primary means by which Christians interact with God, and that corporate prayer shapes every other ministry the church offers.
Men's Ministry: Tuesday Nights and Saturday Breakfasts
MAC's Men's Ministry gathers men of all ages and backgrounds for Bible study, prayer, and honest conversation. The regular Tuesday night Bible study runs from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the conference room at the church, led by Joe Trotti. On the first Saturday of each month, the men swap the conference room for the kitchen: a men's breakfast runs from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m., with free food, humor, and encouragement. The breakfast rotates through sweet and savory options, and special events (projects, movie nights, guest speakers) appear on the calendar throughout the year.
Women's Ministry and the Foster the Family Support Group
The Women's Ministry offers weekly Bible studies, quarterly events, and an annual women's retreat. The Tuesday morning Women's Bible Study meets in the Blue Room from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m., currently working through a seven-session study called "Walk with Jesus in His First-Century World" with teaching videos from Kristi McLelland. Childcare is available, and study books cost $25. Annie Els coordinates the women's Bible study.
On the second Thursday of every month from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., MAC opens its doors to Foster the Family, a peer-led support group for foster, adoptive, and kinship moms in the Muncie area. Each meeting features a short video training from voices with lived experience in foster care and trauma, followed by guided small-group discussion. Emily Garringer leads the Muncie chapter. Foster the Family is one of the church's clearest examples of the "community" value lived out beyond the walls of the building.
Missional Communities for Everyday Discipleship
Beyond the weekly gatherings, MAC encourages members to join small missional communities, groups designed to practice the "one-anothers" of the New Testament in everyday life. The church is candid about why these groups exist: relationships with God and others are hard, and people are often insecure, anxious, and busy. Missional communities are the laboratory where imperfect people learn to love God, love one another, and love their neighbors together. Sign-ups are coordinated through the Church Center app.
Pastor Greg Lex and the Leadership Team
Greg Lex serves as the lead pastor of MAC. He joined the staff in June 2023 and has been in pastoral ministry for almost twenty years, including planting a church, consulting other churches, and serving as an associate pastor overseeing small groups. He and his wife Amy have been married for more than thirty years and have three adult children (Nathan, Joshua, and Abigail) and two dogs, Pouncey and Samson. Greg's life verse is Colossians 1:27-29, and he often talks about praying for revival in Delaware County and dreaming of what God will do with a people fully committed to Jesus, the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission. Visitors will likely find him easy to talk to about football and boy bands.
Three men serve alongside Pastor Greg as elders: Eric Westergren, Tim Wright, and Steve Westergren. Scott Zick is both an elder and the director of MVMNT Student Ministries. The staff team also includes Darla Peters (Worship Director), Jeremy Martin (Technology Director), Jenny Barrett (MACKiDS Director), and Becky Merkel (Administrative Assistant).
The Alliance: Gospel Partners Near and Far
MAC's connection to The Alliance shapes its missions identity. The Alliance supports more than 700 workers around the world, and MAC highlights four gospel partnerships by name.
- The Haas Family (Garrett, Brittney, Oliver, and Elcie) serves the youth of central and eastern Europe out of Tallinn, Estonia, with Josiah Venture.
- The Buehler Family (Ben, Felicia, Abby, Clayton, Everett, and Dalia) ministers to students at Ball State University in Muncie with Cru.
- Christina and Nathan equip disciple makers to strategically use media and technology through Media to Movements.
- The Diller Family (Jason and Kari with Jonas, Liya, Serafina, Lucien, and Belle) brings access to the good news in Southeast Asia through Wycliffe and SIL.
Throughout the year, international workers visit MAC and share their lives with the congregation, a rhythm the church considers part of how it learns to share the love of Christ with neighbors both local and far away.
What to Know Before You Visit
First-time visitors tend to find MAC unusually low-pressure. Dress is come-as-you-are; most people dress casually and some dress up, and no one checks. The building is all on one level with wheelchair-friendly doors, and the church is ADA compliant. Visitors are never asked to stand and introduce themselves during the service, but anyone who wants prayer after the service can ask any staff member or leader. Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and water are all welcome in the sanctuary, and the espresso machine in the lobby is open for anyone who didn't have time to make their own cup at home.
Families with babies can choose between the nursery (open all morning) and the Mommy & Me room at the back of the sanctuary. Children in preschool through fifth grade start in the sanctuary with their parents and are dismissed partway through to their own classes.
The easiest way to stay connected is through the free Church Center app (available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play). The app lets members and visitors sign up for missional communities, give online, and follow along with sermon notes. Sermons are also posted to the church's YouTube channel for anyone who wants to catch up or share them with a friend.
A Place to Belong
MAC's own invitation to newcomers is simply this: there's a place for every person at every age. The church's motto reads, "We call ourselves 'MAC' (read it as a word, not individual letters). A lot of people call us the Coffee Church. Whatever you call us, we hope it will soon include 'family'!" Sunday morning at 5601 West Jackson Street is where that hope starts to take shape, one latte, one hymn, and one conversation at a time.