About Us
Our Mission
First Christian Church Martinsville is a caring congregation, joined together in love and faith, serving God by serving the community.
This means we:
Our Vision
By acknowledging the spiritual worthiness of all, we will encourage deepening relationships with Christ, one another, and our diverse world, revealing the joy of God’s love.
What To Expect When You Visit
Worship Service
Our worship service is held in our main sanctuary and runs about an hour. A typical service will include hymns as well as some contemporary songs. We have several music ministry groups that lead music on Sundays, including our Chancel Choir, Chalice Ringers (Handbell) Choir, and Praise Team. Instruments that our music ministers play include the organ, flute, guitar, drums, ukulele, piano, and bass guitar. We also offer Communion at each service, and everyone is welcome at the table. For members and visitors who need it, we offer Gluten-free Communion wafers.
Have you missed a service and want to catch up? Or are you traveling and want to watch the service virtually? Tune in to 102.3 WCBK at 9:30 am on Sundays to listen to the previous week’s sermon or visit our YouTube channel. You can also Livestream the service on our Facebook page.
What Should I Wear?
Please feel free to wear whatever is comfortable for you. Some come to church in jeans and running shoes, while others wear a suit and tie, or business casual. There is no dress code for any of our services.
When Should I Arrive?
Come a little bit early if you can. We will have the coffee pot on—feel free to take your cup into the service with you.
We have handicapped parking and an elevator in the rear of the church.
How will my children worship?
Typically, children attend the beginning of the worship service in the main sanctuary. After a brief children’s sermon where the kids are invited up to the chancel with the speaker, the children ages 4- third grade are dismissed to their Children Worship and Wonder.
For babies and toddlers, we offer a fully staffed nursery during our Sunday morning worship. We also have rocking chairs in the East Room for parents and caregivers with babes in arms.
Children/Youth Groups
- Special activities are planned throughout the year.
Discover how your children can get involved at FCC
For more information about the available programs for children at FCC, please contact the Church Office at churchoffice@fccmartinsville.org
Is There Adult Sunday School?
Our Discipleship Hour classes promote spiritual enrichment that is Biblically based. It encourages all to draw nearer to the Lord so that we may better serve Him in our daily lives. Classes begin after service, around 10:40 am and last about an hour. Topics and classes change depending on the kind of study the congregation would like to see. Seasonal classes are also offered around the churches calendar. Sometimes, we offer separate classes for Youth during Discipleship Hour. Other times, we offer Intergenerational Studies to help everyone connect on a spiritual topic. When you visit, be sure to ask about our current classes.
We also offer Men’s and Women’s Bible Studies on Wednesday evenings. Both groups start at 5:30 pm.
Who We Are
First Christian Church of Martinsville is part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a denomination of more than 3500 congregations across the United States and Canada.
We are Disciples of Christ, a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us.
Indiana Regional Assembly for the Christian Church Disciples of Christ
CHRIST We believe that God has been made known in Jesus Christ. To be a Christian is to follow Jesus in all that we say and do.
UNITY We practice unity and inclusion at the Lord’s Table for the sake of mission and for the sake of the world as the one family of God. Most Disciples congregations do this by celebrating communion every Sunday. This is why we use the chalice as our logo.
BAPTISM We practice believer’s baptism by immersion. Baptism is the basis of membership in the Church and also a mark that every person is called to serve God—the ideas of a “priesthood of all believers.”
FAITH We honor our heritage as a movement of Christian unity by partnering with other faith communities to work for bringing about wholeness—healing and justice—in the world. This is what it means to be “ecumenical.”
SCRIPTURE We are called to study and read scripture for ourselves. Rather than having tests of faith and creedal statements, we critically and thoughtfully study scripture, taking into account the historical and cultural context in which it was written.
COVENANT We also honor the heritage of Christian unity by staying together in covenant as a witness to the world that even when we disagree we can still make room, welcoming all to the table as Christ has welcomed us. Our spiritual ancestors were fond of saying “unity, not uniformity.”
MISSION We move to answer God’s call for justice particularly in the area of care for the earth, the challenges for women and children, poverty and hunger and immigration. We seek to do this work in cooperation with other people of faith. Some say we “get dirty for Jesus” as a way of conveying the hands-on mission orientation of many of our faith communities.
Our History
The First Christian Church of Martinsville was organized in June of 1835 and accepted no creed or discipline other than the authority of Scripture. A revival gathering in 1842 spurred the construction of the old brick church building on East Pike Street. Through the remainder of the 1800’s, the congregation experienced some shifts in membership, but eventually grew to a unity of over 400 individuals.
1891 work began on a new structure—our present sanctuary—which was dedicated in 1892. A Jubilee year was celebrated in 1899 when the full cost of the building and furniture, amounting to $16,080, was paid in full.
Our church continued to grow rapidly in number, and in 1928 a new education building was completed and dedicated. Even against the odds of the Great Depression, the church was able to pay for the $50,000 cost of construction.
After replacing the sanctuary roof in 1991, a $125,000 interior renovation was undertaken in the early months of 1992 which included a major rebuild of the chancel and the removal of all the paint that covered the beautiful wood grain throughout the sanctuary. The restored sanctuary was re-dedicated in April of that year.
In 1998 the Haven Youth Center was founded. Since then, Haven has welcomed approximately 1500 middle and high school youth through its doors, each learning positive values that, no doubt, will have a life-long impact.
On June 27, 2010, the First Christian Church of Martinsville held a community memorial service for the passing of the famous basketball coach John Robert Wooden. John Wooden is the most well-known person from Martinsville. In his younger years he was a member of the First Christian Church of Martinsville (FCCM). After leaving Martinsville, he would return at times to visit and would attend church at the FCCM, doing this even in his later years traveling from his home in Los Angeles.
