In the summer of 2021, Steve Munsey, pastor of Family Christian Center (FCC) in Munster, Indiana, launched a sermon series titled “Journey Through the Bible.” As Indiana lifted capacity restrictions for the first time since the pandemic began, the church’s 2,500-seat auditorium was filled to capacity, with attendees eager to experience the ministry’s renowned church theatrical productions.
“I’ve been a pastor for 39 years, and I’ve never seen people so hungry for the Word of God,” Munsey says. “People are concerned. They wonder about the violence in the cities, racial tensions, and the rise in depression. They want to know if these are signs of the end times and are looking to the Bible for answers to these difficult questions.”
Located near Chicago, FCC serves as the area’s largest multicultural church, drawing a diverse congregation from both Illinois and Indiana. A primary draw for the community is the ministry’s use of large-scale church productions to reach unchurched audiences. These elaborate, Broadway-style shows include an Easter production featuring 1,000 actors and a Scrooge-themed Christmas event with live animals. By utilizing outreach strategies through innovative productions like Hotel Hallelujah, which features motorcycles and fireworks, the church continues to find creative ways to present the gospel.
“We’ve built the auditorium to be theatrical so that we can be a presentation to reach the lost,” says Munsey, who once had a giant whale built on the stage. “This is a sight-and-sound generation, so if they aren’t seeing it as they are watching on their phones and computers, I’m not reaching them personally.”
He used the whale as a prop when sharing the message “How to Get Your Problems to Spit You Out.”
All the big productions and illustrated sermons are designed around the idea of having something congregants can invite their friends to. “If you don’t give your people bait, it’s hard for them to fish,” says Munsey.
Even during COVID-19, the church maintained a strong evangelistic focus, both online and in person. They’ve even had more than 4,600 first-time guests since the pandemic started.
Common sense says that if you have small crowds, offerings are small; if you have big crowds, offerings are big. During COVID-19, giving has been a bit of a mystery with offerings at FCC increasing by 200%.
Fifteen years ago, a fellow church leader told Munsey that the people who gave in the church would equal the volunteers he had. Munsey disagreed, telling him that Munster was located in a blue-collar steel mill area. It turns out, however, that the other leader was right, which caused Munsey to change his whole thought pattern regarding volunteers. He started a prison ministry and a job fair every month. Back when Munsey had that conversation with the other church leader, FCC had 1,700 volunteers; now that number has grown to 5,000.
“If you’re a church and you want to grow financially, numerically and spiritually, as a leader, get people to volunteer,” says Munsey. “That could be cleaning windows, planting flowers, making costumes, delivering food, whatever.”
He notes that 1,000 people typically ask to be part of the spring production. “Some of them are not even saved, but they want to be in the show, so we are discipling while they are participating.”
FAMILY CHRISTIAN CENTER
Munster, Indiana
Senior Pastor: Steve Munsey
Website: www.FamilyChristianCenter.org
Founded: 1953
Affiliation: Nondenominational