A Congregation Born on the Northside
Orchard Park Presbyterian Church sits at 1605 East 106th Street, on the Indianapolis side of the line that the United States Postal Service counts as Carmel, Indiana. Its members and staff describe the church, founded in 1956, as a place where a diverse group of individuals and families from all walks of life come together, united by shared belief in God and a desire to grow in faith together. Across seven decades the congregation has built a full program of blended worship, learning, intergenerational fellowship, and outreach that reaches from the Carmel Clay school system to the central plateau of Haiti.
The story begins with two men, Dick Helmuth and Al Porteous, who in 1955 began a campaign to establish a Presbyterian church on the northside of Indianapolis near Carmel. On January 15, 1956, one hundred sixteen people signed up as charter members of what became Orchard Park Presbyterian Church. Today Orchard Park is one of more than nine thousand congregations in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), organized within the Whitewater Valley Presbytery. Its mission statement is simple: "Blessed by God's Love, the Orchard Park Family seeks to grow in our faith and reach out with the Good News of Jesus Christ."
What Sundays Look Like at 10:00 a.m.
The congregation gathers for one Sunday worship service each week at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. Worship is described as a blend of traditional hymns and contemporary music, with thoughtful preaching, heartfelt prayer, Scripture, and the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Communion is observed on the second Sunday of each month. The music draws on a Sanctuary Choir, handbell choirs, the Orchard Park Band, and occasional instrumental ensembles, with instruments ranging from the pipe organ and brass to harp, guitar, marimba, and drums. Services are also livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel for those joining from home or away, and a separate online check-in lets worshippers sign in to mark their attendance.
Visitors are welcomed with what the church calls a relaxed atmosphere. Come as you are, the staff notes: there is no dress code, and the welcome center in the main entrance offers a gift and information about the congregation. After the service, coffee and fellowship offer an easy way to meet people and learn about the life of the church. Childcare is available every Sunday from 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. for children from birth through elementary school, so parents can stay through the full hour and the fellowship that follows.
During the school-year program, elementary-age children begin worship with their parents and then leave the sanctuary at the Passing of the Peace to gather in Rooms 208-209 for Children's Church. The curriculum is lectionary-based, so children study the same Bible passages adults hear in service. A new program called Sprout continues the time afterward for preschoolers through fifth grade so parents can attend adult education or simply linger over coffee. Children who need a Bible are given one, and the church hosts an annual Bible Presentation Sunday each fall.
The First Step Inside for First-Time Visitors
Anyone new to Orchard Park will hear a familiar plan-your-visit rhythm. The church encourages newcomers to come on Sunday at 10:00 a.m., explore the website, or call the office at (317) 844-1107 with any questions. In-person expectations include friendly greeters, no required dress code, a welcome center with a small gift, and childcare from 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. for children from birth through elementary school. Coffee and fellowship follow the service. Those wanting to know more can fill out the contact form or email welcome@orchardpark.org.
Children, from Nursery through Fifth Grade
Children's Ministry at Orchard Park serves kids from birth through fifth grade. The nursery, available each Sunday from 9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., runs in two rooms in the Main Street hallway - one for infants and toddlers and one for preschoolers - and is staffed by church members and Butler University students who have completed background checks and safety training under the supervision of Parish Associate Rev. Trish Lisa.
Older children move into Children's Church for kindergarten through fifth grade, then Sprout for continued learning after the service. Grace Notes, a children's choir for kindergarten through fifth grade, rehearses in the Music Room from 11:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Sundays under Music Director Michael Pietranczyk, his wife Kimberly, and daughter Hala, and presents anthems in worship from September through June. Threads is a once-a-month gathering for third through fifth graders designed to bridge Children's Ministry into Youth Ministry, knitting together what the children learn with what is to come.
Special events shape the year. The Children's Ministry calendar includes Trunk or Treat in late October, an annual Christmas Pageant in the sanctuary, an Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch, Vacation Bible School in early June, and a week at Camp Pyoca each summer for rising third graders and older. The Vacation Bible School 2026 program, for example, was titled "Snowball Mountain Challenge" and ran the first week of June from 9:00 a.m. to noon.
Young Families Building Friendships Across Households
The Young Families Ministry is for families with children from birth through elementary school. The group meets on the first Sunday of each month from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., gathering first in the waiting area by Door 2 and moving from there to a different activity space depending on the program. Monthly themes give the year a rhythm: October focuses on stewardship, November on welcoming all as God welcomes us, and December on gratitude and family traditions. A four-week Parenting with Purpose series runs Sunday evenings during a winter stretch, then the group returns to first Sundays in the spring.
Mission is woven into the gatherings. In one recent fall kickoff the families built, installed, and stocked a Free Little Library for the church, then shared dinner together with childcare provided for the youngest participants. The group also serves together at the Carmel United Methodist Food Pantry and joins in seasonal drives like the Clothesline Ministry, which supplies clothing to Carmel Clay students identified by school counselors.
Middle School and High School Youth
Orchard Park welcomes students in grades 6 through 12 into a youth ministry shaped by three core values: community, deepening relationship with Jesus, and authenticity. Dr. Kristin Lehr serves as Director of Youth and Young Adult Outreach, bringing a PhD in communication and leadership and more than twenty years of experience walking with teenagers through life's big transitions.
Middle schoolers gather for B3, a Bible study that meets the second and fourth Monday of each month from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the High School Room (enter through Door 2). High schoolers meet every Wednesday night from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. for a meal, fellowship, and time in the Word, with parents kept in the loop through a Band app link. Sundays after worship, both groups are invited to Peach Pit in Room 205, a relaxed hour built on teaching, trust, vulnerability, and prayer.
Special events layer in throughout the year. The Messy Game Night brings middle and high schoolers together for an evening of free pizza and chaotic games that require old clothes and a towel. The annual trip to Holiday World takes high school and college students for a full day of fun. Camp Pyoca has long been a tradition; rising third graders and older spend a week each summer in faith formation at the Presbyterian camp in southern Indiana, and confirmation for seventh and eighth graders is being planned to resume in 2027. The Youth Ministry also lifts up the church's affirmation of LGBTQIA+ members as part of its PCUSA identity.
Young Adults in Their Defining Decade
For young adults in their twenties and early thirties, Orchard Park runs two main gatherings. Rooted meets Wednesday nights from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. in Room 204, offering prayer, community, Scripture, and service for adults roughly ages 23 to 33. Saplings, a college-aged ministry for 18- to 22-year-olds, hosts a monthly Bible study on the fourth Sunday of each month from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. via Zoom. Both are led under the direction of Dr. Kristin Lehr, whose self-described aim is to keep college kids and young professionals connected with Christ, with one another, and with the Orchard Park community. Paul's Pathfinders, a nine-month adult education cohort that meets once a month on Sunday evenings, begins in mid-September and walks through the life and letters of Paul.
Music as a Ministry of Its Own
Music is central to worship at Orchard Park. The Sanctuary Choir rehearses Thursdays from 7:15 to 8:45 p.m. each week from September through June and leads the congregation in worship weekly, presenting choral music and an Advent work with orchestral accompaniment. It is open to all singers high school age and older. The Chancel Ringers, the church's handbell ensemble, rehearses Wednesdays from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m. and rings three to six octaves of Malmark Handbells along with up to five octaves of handchimes, offering selections in worship about once a month and occasionally forming smaller ensembles.
The Orchard Park Band, made up of volunteer and professional musicians, provides contemporary Christian selections for the 10:00 a.m. service. Two pipe organs live in the building, and the regular mix of instruments heard in worship also includes brass, percussion, woodwinds, strings, harp, guitar, bass, piano, and marimba. Director of Music Michael Pietranczyk, an Oberlin-trained organist and published composer with Paraclete Press, invites musicians of any skill level to share their gifts, quoting the Psalmist's call: "Let everything that hath breath, praise the Lord."
Adult Learning Across the Week
Adults at any stage of life can find a way to keep learning. The Tuesday Morning Men's Bible Study meets at 6:15 a.m. in the lounge for conversation, prayer, and coffee. On Thursdays at 9:45 a.m., the Presbyterian Women host a Bible study that meets in person and on Zoom, currently working through a ten-week video-based study. Sunday mornings offer Sunday School classes for adults, including a new Wisdom Seekers class that follows the themes of the pastor's sermon series. The Mind the Gap class runs short topical series like a fall study of Ephesians and a spring study of Philippians.
Short-term offerings come and go throughout the year. Practicing Civility meets for ten weeks in the summer, and a four-week parenting series, Parenting with Purpose, gathers parents on Sunday evenings in winter. The Hear, Go, See group plans day trips around central Indiana - Conner Prairie, the Swiss Heritage Village and Museum in Berne, lunch at Traders Point Creamery - combining fellowship with a chance to learn more about the state's heritage and foodways.
Presbyterian Women: Three Circles, Many Mission Projects
The Presbyterian Women ministry at Orchard Park has more than forty active members organized into three Circles. The Quilters Circle meets Mondays from 9:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m., hand-quilting projects for others or finishing heirloom quilts; a fee for the work goes toward missions, and the group provides quilts for Orchard Park's graduating youth each year.
The Miriam Circle keeps the church connected with its young members during their post-high school and undergraduate years, sending regular remembrances and gathering on the first Monday of each month (October onward) at 7:00 p.m. in Room 118 and via Zoom, with a study based on Rick Warren's "Better Together: What on Earth Are We Here For?" A pitch-in dinner opens the year in September. The Book Review Circle meets the third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m., selecting books that are readily available at public libraries; there is no December meeting.
All three Circles host the annual Women's Tea and the OPPC PW Rummage Sale fundraiser for missions, and the group contributes to the Birthday Offering and Least Coin Offering of National PW Missions and Disaster Relief. Local mission support flows to Fountains of Hope, the OPPC Youth Caravan, Family Promise of Greater Indianapolis, Good News Ministry, Haiti birthing kits and mobile clinic support, OPPC food and gas cards, Camp Pyoca scholarships, and the OPPC Children's Ministry. PW also funds Hugga Pillows for Riverview Hospital.
Men's Ministry and the Old Goats
Men's ministry at Orchard Park centers on the Tuesday Morning Men's Bible Study and a fellowship group called the Old Goats. The Tuesday study gathers men in the lounge to explore Scripture, pray, and build friendships in a setting where questions are encouraged. The Old Goats, named with a smile, are a group of men who meet regularly for fellowship, conversation, and connection - sharing life experiences, discussing current events, enjoying a meal, or simply catching up. New faces are always welcome.
Local Outreach in Carmel and Beyond
Local Outreach at Orchard Park is organized around three commitments: charity for immediate needs, empowerment through longer-term partnership, and advocacy on root causes. Two church-wide initiatives currently drive the work: food insecurity and mental health and loneliness. The congregation has deepened its relationship with the Carmel United Methodist Church Food Pantry, providing volunteer service, food drives, birthday kit assembly, financial support, and a monthly donation of hundreds of dozens of fresh eggs. Members also support the Pack-A-Sack Assistance Program through Carmel Schools, ensuring children have nutritious meals to take home on weekends and school breaks.
The Clothesline Ministry partners with Carmel Clay Schools to provide clothing identified by school counselors and social workers. Members collect, sort, launder, and distribute new and gently used clothing so that children and teens have what they need to feel comfortable and confident at school. Family Promise of Greater Indianapolis receives meals, household goods, furniture, and financial assistance from Orchard Park to help families experiencing homelessness establish stability. The Harvest Christian Fellowship partnership, now more than a decade old, brings Thanksgiving meals, grocery distributions, school supply backpacks, and food boxes to families in need.
Older adults find connection through the Shepherd Center Together Today program, which Orchard Park supports to reduce isolation and foster meaningful engagement. Trinity Fellowship provides friendship and fellowship for adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities through shared meals, activities, and celebrations, with volunteer contacts available through the church. The church is also the charter organization for Cub Scout Pack 124 and celebrates Scout Sunday each February.
Global Missions Across Continents
Orchard Park's global mission work focuses on disaster relief, healthcare, education, and clean water. Through the Whitewater Valley Presbytery and the Presbyterian Mission Agency, members support Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Westminster Neighborhood Services, Hispanic Ministries, Camp Pyoca, and Congo Helping Hands. Special offerings of One Great Hour of Sharing and Christmas Joy underwrite the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Self-Development of People, and leadership development for Presbyterian ministers.
Since 2012, OPPC has supported a mobile clinic in the Central Plateau of Haiti, opened by Dr. Renaud Gerve to serve twenty remote mountain villages and treat between five hundred and one thousand patients per month. Members also contribute to a stationary clinic under construction in Mombin Crochu, assemble birthing kits each year for midwives and village care workers, and serve as primary contributors to a post-high school scholarship program for Haitian students pursuing nursing, education, accounting, construction, computer science, and diplomacy. The Fountains of Hope partnership helps bring safe drinking water to communities around the world through water purification systems that have reached thousands of people every day since 2010.
Orchard Park Preschool: Forty-Plus Years of Play-Based Learning
For more than forty years, Orchard Park Preschool has served families on the church campus in Carmel. The play-based, faith-based preschool is an unlicensed registered childcare ministry serving children from 18 months to 5 years old, organized into five classes: Early Childhood (18 months), Middle Childhood (2 years), Junior Preschool (3 years, must be potty trained), and Senior Preschool (4 years). Class options run from two days a week to five, with before-school care from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., the school day from 9:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and after-school care from 2:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The preschool uses the Handwriting Without Tears approach, and STEAM activities are part of Junior Preschool and beyond.
Christian faith is woven through the daily rhythm. Teachers lead daily Bible lessons, sing songs, learn about the love of God, and begin each day in staff chapel praying for the safety of students, guidance for teachers, and personal requests for families. Co-Directors Emily Ward and Jennifer Witherbee lead a staff of ten teachers. The preschool can be reached at preschool@orchardpark.org or (317) 814-2488, with extension 111 from the main church line.
Leadership and Governance
The pastoral team is led by Senior Pastor Rev. Gracie Hellweg Payne, a graduate of Indiana University and Princeton Theological Seminary who previously served congregations in Indianapolis and Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She is joined by Parish Associate Rev. Trish Lisa, who focuses on children, young families, and pastoral care; Music Director Michael Pietranczyk; Director of Youth and Young Adult Outreach Dr. Kristin Lehr; Preschool Director of Operations Jennifer Witherbee; Director of Administration Mary Leffler; Office Administrator Deb Foster; Building Manager Tim Millikan; and Accountant Joe Jansen.
Governance follows the Book of Order. Ruling Elders elected to the Session guide the congregation alongside the pastors, with standing committees covering Stewardship and Finance, Community Engagement, Congregational Engagement, Management and Administration, Facilities and Technology, Mission, Worship, Adult Ministries, Youth Ministries, Children's Ministry, and Preschool. Deacons lead the ministry of compassion and pastoral care under the direction of Co-Moderators Sheryl Johnson and Ellen Smith, with parish nurse Karla Gaston among the team's roster of twelve.
Giving, Building Use, and the Practical Side of OPPC
Orchard Park funds its ministries through tithes and offerings, accepting cash and checks in worship or by mail, online giving through Realm and a text-to-give number, electronic transfers of appreciated securities, and legacy gifts through planned giving. Members and friends can also give by texting "GIVEOPPC Pledged" to 73256. Members donate clothing for the Clothesline Ministry at the bin across from Room 115 and assemble hygiene kits in the fellowship hall after worship on designated Sundays.
The building hosts weddings, funerals, baptisms, and community gatherings. Weddings are held as worship services, with pastors working closely with couples on a service that reflects their values and commitment before God. Funerals and memorial services may be held in the sanctuary, chapel, or another setting and are coordinated with the pastors. The building and property are managed by Tim Millikan, who handles work orders, room and facility bookings, and event logistics. The church offices sit at 1065 East 106th Street in Indianapolis and are open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The church can be reached at (317) 844-1107 or oppc@orchardpark.org.
Art, Mission Events, and a Church That Keeps Showing Up
An OPPC Art Gallery gives visual artists in the congregation a place to exhibit their work, and the church hosts intergenerational gatherings like the Mental Health Art Night led by local artist Jen Bubp. A Blessings Box sits on the church grounds to nourish neighbors facing food insecurity, and the congregation regularly assembles hygiene kits for mission partners, supports Hamilton County Harvest Food Bank, and steps up when disaster strikes close to home. Each fall the church marks the work of OPPC Scouts with Scout Sunday, gathers families for Trunk or Treat, and rings in the Advent season with the children's Christmas Pageant. Each winter it collects socks and underwear for Carmel Clay students. Each spring the Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch draws a full sanctuary of families, and each summer Vacation Bible School and Camp Pyoca send children and youth out into a wider world carrying the Good News of Jesus Christ in their own ways.