February 23, 2026
Since 1995, the National Preaching Summit has focused specifically on preaching. Learn the event’s history, leadership, and 2026 theme, plus details for the March 9-10 gathering at The Creek in Indianapolis.
January 5, 2022
The inaugural ChurchOS Conference will take place Feb. 1-2 in Arizona. The conference is for any church leader who wants to carry out the Great Commission more effectively and consistently. (Plus briefs from Johnson University, Bridges Christian Church, and more.)
Briefs from e2:effective elders, churches in Ohio and North Carolina, Ozark Christian College, Kentucky Christian University, and Milligan University. Also, a new student edition of the Core 52 book.
May 1, 2019
By Chris Moon Gary Johnson has decided to have just one full-time job from now on . . . and he’s pretty excited about it. “I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve,” he said last week as he prepared for his last Sunday on the job as pastor of The Creek in Indianapolis. “I’m waiting for 8 a.m. on Monday morning to arrive when I only have to wear one hat.” Johnson retired Sunday from 30 years at the helm of The Creek, which he saw grow from 250 in attendance to more than 4,000 during his tenure—something he attributes
June 4, 2017
By Mark A. Taylor We wanted experience from church leaders who have led their congregations to build. We were able to spend an hour with four who brought insight and a couple of warnings for any congregation considering a building campaign: Gene Appel, senior pastor with Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, California; Gary Johnson, lead servant with The Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana; Darrel Land, senior minister with Redemption Christian Church in Jasper, Indiana; and David Vaughan, senior minister with Whitewater Crossing Christian Church in Cleves, Ohio. Here are excerpts from that conversation. Tell us about your last building project. Appel:
July 21, 2016
By Chris Garrett I”ve told my story many times over the years. Sadly, I”ve found it a common one. A young woman marries her high school sweetheart, has a baby boy, and one year later, the father doesn”t want to be married anymore and leaves. Struggling with the aftermath, mom and child live in poverty, experience years of physical and sexual abuse during a second marriage, and that boy grows up living a life full of poor choices born out of a deep struggle with self-worth. That was my story, but it didn”t end there. I love to tell people
By Gary Johnson The interior world of the outgoing leader is a key factor to transitions that succeed. While each of us knows about different kinds of journeys, I”m exploring a journey that is unique. This journey involves Christians in a local church or parachurch organization, and it is called succession. It happens when the senior leader leaves and a new leader arrives in his place. Just as every person in the plane, on the train, or in the car travel together, this journey involves everyone in the particular church or parachurch organization. Succession involves more than one minister leaving
January 12, 2016
By Mark A. Taylor Here”s why a church should recruit excellent musicians to lead worship: The people we”re serving as well as those we hope to reach are hearing professionally produced music everywhere they go. Many of them love music, and they listen to “their music” in their car, at the gym, when they walk, and sometimes at work. But even nonmusical people encounter music every day. Music creates the emotion and signals the mood in everything from Star Wars to sitcoms. The most memorable TV and radio ads include music. (I heard an interview the other day with a
December 8, 2015
By Mark A. Taylor How should we worship? Maybe we can take some comfort in the fact that throughout church history, Christians have answered that question in wildly differing ways. As both Paul Blowers and Tom Lawson point out this month, lavish artistic expressions of worship centuries ago eventually gave way to abandonment and even destruction of them by Protestant reformers. The motivation for each approach was the desire to please and praise God. Across Christendom today, we find everything from formal liturgy in classic settings to simple, quiet contemplative gatherings in smaller groups to exuberant, loud, guitar-driven, drum-syncopated megachurch
November 13, 2015
Gary Johnson, senior minister at The Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana, talks with editor Mark A. Taylor about the unique DNA at that church and the importance of combining compassion with testimony as we make friends with those who aren”t Christians. See the exclusive interview here.
May 7, 2015
By Jennifer Johnson A look at how some growing churches are growing in ways difficult to measure but vital to achieve. ____ Jason Yeatts Executive minister, adults The Creek, Indianapolis, Indiana In our movement, I think the habits of the early 19th century are ingrained””that discipleship means giving people the right material or sermon. At The Creek, we have made an intentional shift from “informational discipleship” to a relational model. Four years ago we started a series of four classes called “Life on Life.” The idea was you”d move through them””from Belong to Grow to Serve to Engage””and be ready
July 26, 2014
By Gary Johnson (From our series “The Best or Worst Advice I”ve Ever Received.”) As the lead servant at Indian Creek Christian Church (The Creek) in Indianapolis, I will be forever indebted to the late Dr. Joe Ellis, one of my favorite professors at Cincinnati Christian University. Dr. Ellis told me there are two types of churches: member driven and mission driven. Member-driven churches account for roughly three out of four churches across America, and the desires of the members drive these congregations. However, only one of four churches in our nation is on mission to seek and to save
April 10, 2014
By Lise Caldwell Worship is a response to who God is. Can you plan to respond? Maybe not, but we find great satisfaction in crafting experiences that lead people to worship God. We huddle around 8-foot round tables strewn with laptops and iPads, soda cans and pizza crusts. The whiteboard that dominates the front of the room is ominously blank. The dates of our upcoming weekend services throb in the corners, pulsating in their urgency. I scribble on my notepad. Someone coughs. The room grows quiet. Time to plan our worship services. “Planning” worship sounds counterintuitive. We don”t “plan” to
March 30, 2011
Indian Creek Christian Church (Indianapolis, IN) recently launched a new ministry for police officers, their spouses, and families. The Creek developed the ministry to help this group with challenges like odd work hours and bringing difficult experiences home from the job. All active and retired police officers and their families were invited to join the ministry and share support and encouragement.
September 10, 2008
By Brad Dupray Indian Creek Christian Church (“The Creek”) in Indianapolis, Indiana, has a well-earned reputation as a church committed to expressing the truth of the gospel in creative ways through worship experiences. Gary Johnson has served as senior pastor at The Creek for 20 years, leading it from a church of 250 to 4,000 in weekend worship. Gary has been on more than 50 mission trips to foreign countries, teaching pastors and church leaders in cross-cultural settings. He has earned two master”s degrees from Cincinnati (Ohio) Christian University, a master”s degree from Lincoln (Illinois) Christian Seminary, and a DMin
September 7, 2008
By Gary L. Johnson Did you ever think gasoline would sell for more than $4 a gallon? The increasing cost of fuel is having an impact on driving habits. In particular, many rethought summer travel plans because of fuel costs. Long-distance travel plans were canceled. Maps were put away in favor of staying close to home. The value of a vacation wasn”t as great as the cost of getting there. Regretfully, some churches are making a “change in their travel plans” by not practicing strategic planning. “Moving” the local church strategically to a distant point in the future doesn”t happen
December 31, 2007
Laura Dingman has shared a few examples of worship services and worship elements from gatherings her team has planned at The Creek in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Creek-Download contains orders of worship, monologues, and responsive readings to stimulate your creativity, and even to use where you worship.
April 7, 2026
John B. Penrose Jr
April 7, 2026
David Faust
March 27, 2026
Rick Cherok