A Church on Alto Road in Kokomo
Chapel Hill Christian Church sits on the west side of Kokomo, Indiana, at 2600 W Alto Road, just minutes from the neighborhoods served by Western School Corporation. The church exists to lead people to Christ and develop them to spiritual maturity, and its vision is to develop relationships with families and to make disciples with an undeniable love for Jesus. Across three core values, Transformation, Community, and Impact, the congregation describes its calling in plain words: Becoming who God created us to be, Moving from me to we, and Doing what God calls us to do.
What visitors tend to notice first is the breadth of what happens at Chapel Hill on any given week. Two Sunday morning services fill the auditorium with congregational singing, communion, and preaching. Down the hall, children from birth through fifth grade head into age-specific rooms of their own. Middle and high school students gather for Bible study in the morning and return on Sunday evenings for AWAKE, a separate service that runs during the school year. Across the parking lot, the Chapel Hill Preschool welcomes three, four, and five-year-olds for a Christian early childhood program. Out in the community, the church leads Western Buddy Bags, a partnership with Western Schools that sends bags of kid-friendly food home each week with students who need it.
Sunday Mornings at 9:30 and 11:00
Services meet at 9:30 and 11:00 on Sunday mornings, and each gathering runs about an hour. The format includes singing, a message from Scripture, a weekly observance of communion, and a time for tithes and offerings. Communion is open to anyone who professes faith in Jesus, and newcomers are not expected to participate. Greeters and a coffee bar are part of the First Impressions Team that meets guests at the door, and an Information Center in the lobby is staffed for anyone who wants an orientation to the church.
There is no dress code. People attend in suits and ties and in jeans and t-shirts. The worship style reflects what the church calls Christ-centered worship: a mix of contemporary songs led by a worship team, with some people standing, raising their hands, clapping, or kneeling, and others simply following along. Visitors are welcome to take whatever posture feels right to them.
Chapel Hill Kids from Birth Through Fifth Grade
Chapel Hill Kids runs at both Sunday services for children from birth through fifth grade. The ministry is built around three words: Gain, Grow, and Go. Every child is invited to gain biblical knowledge that fosters a love for God and His people, to grow through relationships in safe environments, and to go into the community equipped to demonstrate God's love.
Rooms are divided by age. The nursery cares for children from birth through age two. Preschoolers ages three through kindergarten meet in their own space. First through fifth graders gather in the elementary room. Safety is treated as a priority, and every child is checked in and given a name tag before joining a class. The children's ministry also produces the Chapel Hill Kids Podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, so families can keep the conversation going during the week.
Chapel Hill Students and AWAKE on Sunday Nights
Chapel Hill Students is the middle and high school ministry, and it is structured around three phrases: Be with Jesus. Become like Jesus. Do what Jesus did. Students in grades six through twelve meet at 9:30 on Sunday mornings for Bible study, joining the first service hour in the Student Ministry area. On Sunday evenings during the school year, they gather in the Fellowship Hall on the east side of the building for AWAKE, a two-hour service from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. AWAKE includes games, dinner, a time of worship, teaching, and small groups, and is led by Student Minister Caleb Clendaniel, who joined the staff in January of 2026.
Parents are invited to partner with the ministry in discipling their students. The student ministry team welcomes volunteers who enjoy working with sixth through twelfth graders.
What Chapel Hill Believes
Chapel Hill describes itself as a local body of Christ followers and lays out its beliefs across a dozen statements. The church teaches belief in one God who eternally exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It affirms that Jesus is fully God and fully human, born of the virgin Mary, crucified and resurrected, and that He will return to rule and reign. The Holy Spirit is described as the presence of God living inside each follower of Christ, giving spiritual gifts, empowering prayer, and assuring believers of salvation.
The church teaches that salvation is a gift received by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, that the Bible is the authoritative and infallible Word of God, and that baptism is practiced by immersion of those who profess faith in Christ. Communion is observed weekly in the services as a symbolic reminder of the cross and an act of unity among believers. The church also teaches a literal heaven and hell, with believers spending eternity with God and those who reject Christ facing eternal separation.
Worship Arts and the Production Team
The Worship Arts ministry oversees everything that shapes a Sunday gathering: the worship band, scripture readers, hosts, slides, lights, sound, livestream, and cameras. Worship Minister Aaron Secaur has led this team since June of 2018 and graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University with a degree in Church Music. Musicians, vocalists, scripture readers, and production volunteers are all invited to serve. Services are livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person.
Western Buddy Bags: Feeding Kids in the Western School System
One of the most distinctive ministries at Chapel Hill is Western Buddy Bags, a nonprofit the church leads in partnership with Western Schools. Each week during the school year, around 120 students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Western Primary and Intermediate receive a bag of kid-friendly, nutritious food to take home for the weekend. The program, which is operated by Chapel Hill Christian Church under a separate Facebook page at facebook.com/westernbuddybags, runs on donations and sponsorships and costs roughly $20,000 a year to maintain. Checks can be made out to Chapel Hill Christian Church with Buddy Bags in the memo line and mailed to the church address, and tax-deductible donations of any amount can be made through PayPal.
Missions Near and Far
Chapel Hill supports a wide circle of mission partners locally, nationally, and internationally. The local list includes Bridges Outreach, which feeds, tutors, and mentors at-risk youth through partnerships between churches and schools; the Kokomo Rescue Mission, which has served the homeless, hungry, and hurting in north central Indiana since 1953; Living Alternatives, a pregnancy resource center offering care and support; and The Ark Christian Ministries, a non-profit that began in 1948 as a summer camp and now provides Christ-centered programming for the next generation.
Internationally, the church partners with Haitian Christian Outreach, which works alongside Haitian Christians to transform communities for Christ, and with Cade Bailey, a missionary in Japan with Mustard Seed Network, a church-planting organization. The church also supports Dot Elliot and Andrea and Heather Gentile as Roman missionaries.
Chapel Hill Preschool
Chapel Hill Preschool is a Christian early childhood program that operates on the church's campus. The school day begins with circle time, which includes singing and Bible stories, and moves into learning centers that follow weekly themes such as Fire Prevention, Family, Space, Healthy Eating, and Dinosaurs. Children also enjoy reading time, gym, snack time, and small group time built around the Zoo Phonics program. Special family events throughout the year include a Thanksgiving Feast, Dad's Road Rally, Mother's Tea, field trips, and Family Fun Night.
The preschool follows Western School Corporation closings for weather days and is currently hiring aides for the 2026-2027 school year, with both volunteer and paid positions available. The program is directed by Megan Clendaniel and Angela Hill.
Leadership and Pastoral Team
Mat Bowen became the lead pastor in June of 2026. A graduate of Purdue University Northwest and Princeton Theological Seminary, Mat spent time in prison ministry before stepping into preaching full time in early 2019. Steve Allen, who served as senior minister of Chapel Hill from 1994 to 2026, moved into the role of Pastor of Care, where he focuses on caring for the congregation and ministering to older adults. Aaron Secaur has led worship since 2018, and Caleb Clendaniel joined as Student Minister in January of 2026.
The staff also includes Debbie Bennett, who came on as Children's Ministry Director in November of 2025; Lisa Winter, Connections Director; Kasey Cowell, Facilities and Technical Director; and Rachel Secaur, Communications Director. The preschool is led by Megan Clendaniel and Angela Hill. A team of five elders, chaired by Todd Kirk with Rick Winter, Randy Hill, Scott Miller, and Brad Rogers, provides spiritual oversight for the church.
Serving Opportunities for Every Skill
Chapel Hill organizes its serving around six teams. The First Impressions Team staffs greeters, the coffee bar, and the Information Center. The Worship Arts Team includes musicians, vocalists, scripture readers, hosts, and production volunteers. The Children's Ministry Team serves in the nursery, preschool, and elementary rooms. The Student Ministry Team invests in middle and high schoolers. The Facilities Team sets up and tears down events, cleans the building, and cares for the property. The Photography Team captures the life of the church for weekly communications and outreach.
Getting Connected
The church office is open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the phone line is 765-453-7388, with text messages welcome at 765-300-4404. A digital connection card on the church's Church Center platform helps newcomers share their information, and a weekly prayer list can be signed up for online. Giving is available at chapelhillcc.churchcenter.com/giving. Visitors are invited to arrive a few minutes early on Sunday morning and stop by the Information Center, where a team member will walk them through the building and answer any questions about the service, communion, children's ministry, or anything else.