Schedule of Events for Sept. 19-20

Roberts Park United Methodist Church -- the first downtown Indianapolis Methodist church -- is celebrating the 150th anniversary of our sanctuary the weekend of Sept. 19-20, 2026 with a proclamation delivered by Mayor Joe Hogsett and a community meal open to all visitors.


Below is the schedule of events for the celebration weekend:


Saturday, Sept. 19 from 12-7 PM. 

  • Guided tours of the sanctuary will be held on the half hour (except for 3-4 PM and 6-7 PM due to pipe organ concerts).
  • Visitors to Fellowship Hall will be able to stop by tables hosted by the church’s ministry teams to learn the many ways congregants reach out to support the Indianapolis community, including through the Soup's On ministry that feeds the food insecure and Shalom Daycare for infants and preschoolers.
  • The rich history of the church will be available at guests’ fingertips through binders filled with newspaper clippings, photos and sketches. Be sure to learn about the visit from former President Ronald Reagan.
  • Children’s activities and refreshments available throughout the day.
  • Two special pipe organ recitals will be held in the sanctuary at 3 PM (former Roberts Park and current St. Mark’s UMC organist Evelyn Rohrbach) and 6 PM (Christ Church Cathedral organist Hayden Ives-Glasgow).


Sunday, Sept. 20 from 10:30 AM-2 PM.

  • Rev. Dr. Andrew Scanlan-Holmes will open the service at 10:30 AM by welcoming guests including Mayor Joe Hogsett, who will present a proclamation recognizing the significance of the sanctuary. Lay Leader Clay Miller will accept the proclamation and present the Mayor a gift. Roberts Park UMC is the home church of Mayor Hogsett.
  • At approximately 10:50 AM a special anthem, “12 Stones,” written by church member Seth Allen, will be performed by the church choir.
  • At approximately 11:00 AM a gift will be presented to members of the Hindu community who partner with Roberts Park through the Pilgrim Pairs program.
  • At approximately 11:30 AM guests will be invited outdoors (weather permitting) for a meal prepared and served by Southport United Methodist Church. The public is invited to this meal.
  • At approximately 11:35 AM Mayor Hogsett will share comments about his involvement in working with the Soup’s On ministry.
  • The Southport Worship Band will play throughout the meal.

OUR CURRENT SITE HAS BEEN Welcoming Generations of indy families since 1876

Roberts Park United Methodist Church was founded in 1821, and the congregation originally worshipped in a log structure on Maryland Street. By 1842, the denomination had grown enough to necessitate a split, with houses of worship east and west of Meridian St. The eastern church, located at Pennsylvania and Market streets, was named Roberts Chapel to honor Bishop Robert R. Roberts, the first Methodist bishop to live in Indiana.


The current church building – named Roberts Park to reflect its original park-like setting – was completed in 1876. The architecture reflects the Romanesque Revival period.


Interior features include a pair of elaborate staircases with massive handrails and large turned balusters that lead from the fellowship hall to the sanctuary. The staircases are crafted of black walnut and reported to have been constructed from trees that were cleared in the walnut grove on which the church was built. The staircases continue up from the sanctuary to galleries, also made from walnut, which wrap around three sides of the sanctuary and are supported by cast iron posts with floriated capitals.


The sanctuary was built without interior support columns despite a width of 62 feet and a height of 34 feet. The church has approximately 108 stained-glass windows on three floor levels, including the rose windows above the entry doors on Vermont Street. All the windows are original to the 1876 building. In 1876 stenciling beautified the sanctuary walls and ceiling but was later painted over. In the 1998 the stenciling was restored.


One of the church’s most prominent congregants, Indianapolis industrialist and Indianapolis Motor Speedway co-founder James A. Allison, largely funded a 1915 refresh of the building, including the installation of a new pipe organ by Ernest M. Skinner of Boston. A complementary addition in 1927 created office space, a stage, and recreation area.


In 1982, the church building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

CARING CONGREGATION

From its earliest days, the congregation has focused on ministering to the community, supporting the city's first public library during the 1870s and ‘80s, and hosting a WWII serviceman's center in the building during the 1940s. In the 1960s, the church added programs to serve its downtown neighbors. Read more of our history here.