A megachurch in Indiana has opened a new campuses inside a jail.
At least 15 people have come to Christ since the multicampus, nondenominational Emmanuel Church launched campuses in January at Johnson County Jail, Johnson County Community Corrections work-release center and the Theodora House, a Volunteers of America women’s recovery center near downtown Indianapolis.
Rachel Long, the executive pastor of multisites and families and a former developmental therapist, told The Christian Post that Emmanuel Church is also planning to soon launch another microsite campus at Brandon Hall, another Volunteers of America transitional facility in Indianapolis.
Long said – “The way that we view it is that they can’t come to Christ inside these dark places without someone having the courage to go in.”
According to Long, the microsites are different from the average prison ministry in the sense that they try to bring the “Emmanuel experience” into the microsite centers.
At all the microsite facilities except the Johnson County Jail, volunteers from the church’s “impact” team livestream services as they happen at Emmanuel Church’s Greenwood campus.
Following the service, attendees engage in a group discussion led by volunteers to unpack what was said in the sermon.
The idea is catching on. Other churches have contacted Emmanual with an interest in doing something similar in their areas.