Our Story

Our story began over 10 years ago as God placed it on the heart of pastor Chris Bunch to start a new church, a different kind of church, a church for the unchurched. We started in Chris’s home with 6 adults, 2 kids and one cat (as Chris says, “We counted anything that could breathe!”) and we simply prayed that God would grow our church.

As we thought about a name that would relate to our community we looked at Muncie and all of east central Indiana and saw the historical impact that jar companies have had on the development of the area. In a spiritual sense all of us are ordinary jars and the church is a collection of these jars. We may be made of different materials, but the focus is not on what the outside looks like, but on the priceless treasure inside the jar which is God’s love and grace that dwells in us. This connection between our spiritual lives and the history of east central Indiana is what led us to adopt the name The Jar Community Church.

Our small gathering continued to pray and seek God and at the same time reached out to our community and showed love in practical ways, letting everyone know that regardless of where they were at, that God loved them no matter what.  And God moved. We outgrew our homes and began gathering in the upstairs meeting area of the
Downtown YMCA. From there we decided to officially throw our doors open to the community in a more public way with an official launch on October 10, 2004, now meeting in half of the YMCA gym.
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As we continued to move forward in faith God has met us every step of the way. We launched Saturday ServeFest to show that small things done with great love really could change our community. Our Sunday celebrations grew to use the entire gym at the Y, then we were blessed with the need to start holding two celebrations on Sunday morning. In 2016 we opened a ministry center near downtown to house our staff and to provide ministry space for those inside and outside The Jar. With that space available we were then able to open The Community Basket, which provides much needed household and personal care items for members of our community.

God has blessed us greatly as we strive to fulfill our mission to love people into a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Jar is a place where everyone belongs.  We’re just a group of imperfect people who are learning to follow and love Jesus better and we’re excited to see where God is leading us as we continue to do our best to follow Him faithfully.

Our Beliefs

God and the Bible
At The Jar Community Church we believe that the Bible is God's perfect guidebook for living. God is bigger, better and closer than we can imagine and God shows himself through his son, Jesus Christ. We believe that God made everything in creation and that nothing "just happened." Heaven and hell are real places and death is a beginning, not an end.

Our Relationship with God
We believe grace is the only way to have a relationship with God and faith is the only way to grow in this relationship. We believe God allows evil in order to provide us with a choice. God can bring good even out of evil events and He promises victory over evil to those who choose Him.

Our Mission
To love our community into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our Staff

Chris Bunch • Senior Pastor

Chris has been a pastor for more than 15 years. He and his wife Jennifer have two beautiful girls, Jordan and Shiloh. As a family they enjoy taking walks in their neighborhood and hanging out together at home. Chris loves sports (except hockey and curling), is an extremely picky eater and thinks he's a good dancer. Although he's a fantastic pastor, he is thankful that he has Mikey to take care of all his technology needs.
Derek Young • Worship Leader

​Derek joined the Jar staff in the fall of 2009. He is a Muncie native, so just ask him about any landmark or store, and he will provide you with a wealth of knowledge. Derek loves playing the guitar for Jesus. However, the majority of his free time is spent bargain shopping on eBay or at the Goodwill. Do not be alarmed if you see him in a pair of cowboy boots he willingly wears them. Also, Derek seems to be addicted to fantasy football and he loves his dog Beaux.
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Jennifer Welch • Administrative Assistant

Jennifer joined The Jar in June of 2010. She lives in Farmland with her daughters Mollie and Lydia, and her son Owen.
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Dawn Richman • Student Ministry Director

Dawn Richman is married to Justin Richman and they have a daughter named McKinna.  Dawn studied secondary education at Ball State and received her Master’s degree from Indiana Wesleyan in addictions counseling.  Dawn loves to joke around and really enjoys working with adolescents.  She enjoys reading, playing volleyball, spending time with family and being outside.  She enjoys helping others and has a passion for working with youth.
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Emily Skoglund • Small Groups Coordinator

Emily joined The Jar staff in 2012 after teaching math for four years. She now coordinates small groups at The Jar. She loves baking, dancing, and spending time with her husband Mikey and their daughter Autumn.
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Mikey Skoglund • Director of Media Communications

Mikey joined The Jar staff in 2008 to assist in our creative media needs. He's the one in charge of our videos and getting all of the 'techie' stuff set up. If you ever have any computer questions, he'll be more than happy to assist you. Mikey also enjoys playing music and loves spending time with his wife Emily and their daughter Autumn.
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Rebekah Keith • JarKids Director

Rebekah Keith is happily married to Jeremy Keith. Rebekah studied Music Education at Anderson University and is currently a seminary student at the Anderson University School of Theology.  She loves working with children as they are so honest, and have such a fun and creative outlook on life! Rebekah thrives on eating McDonalds, telling bad jokes, playing board games, and spending time with friends and family!
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