Who We Are:

The Southeast Project is a progressive Christian church. By that, we mean we embrace an inclusive faith that celebrates the image of God in all people and welcomes everyone to explore the way of Jesus in authentic, life-giving community. We center the teachings of Jesus as our guide, focusing on the love, justice, and compassion that he embodied and taught, which leads us to be voices of peace, hope, and healing in our neighborhoods, city, and world. In this journey, we embrace the gift of uncertainty and foster spiritual exploration, engaging thoughtfully with questions of faith and doubt that arise as we practice an ancient faith amid the complexities of our modern world.

Our Story:

The Southeast Project began in an apartment living room in 2011 when our founding pastor, Ryan, and his wife, Jill, gathered a group of friends together and dreamed about a new kind of church in the city of Indianapolis. Having graduated from Franklin Central High School, on the southeast side of Indy, starting Southeast was all about coming home helping people looking for a new kind of church find a place to belong. A lot of the focus early on was about helping people find a church after they had given up on the idea of church.

A lot of people today talk about this as deconstructing faith. Language changes, but the need for a different kind of church, one that redefines church continues to be a need. For a long time church has been defined with words like anti-science, judgmental, and political. There’s got to be a better way to be the church.

That desire to find a better way to be the church drove us in the beginning and continues to drive us today. What if we can reconstruct our faith and redefine the word church with words like family, goodness, and love? This vision continues to shape everything we do by reconstructing faith in a way that feels both honest and hopeful.

Our journey has taken us from that original living room to a bar, then a conference center, a theater, and now a school. But wherever we gather, the heart remains the same: creating a home where everyone is welcome to explore the way of Jesus, exactly as they are.