Driven by a vision for an American Baptist presence in the neighborhood around Ball State University, Riverside Avenue Baptist Church came into existence in the early 1960’s. While always a small congregation, the church has consistently maintained a positive and inclusive witness to the Muncie community. Its purpose and vision can best be summed up in the words of its covenant:
Believing in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and led by his spirit, we covenant with God and with one another to be the church.
We will walk together in Christian love, sharing in each other’s joys and sorrows.
We will help one another to think, speak, and act as Christians, center our lives in God through worship, study, prayer, and service.
We will cultivate within our church an accepting and creative environment for all seeking persons, respecting diversity of experience as together we grow in Christian love.
We will support our church through faithful participation, and sacrificial giving of our energy, our money, and our time.
We will open our doors to the world, to love its people, and to be engaged with them in the struggle for life.
Living in a complicated world, we will do the best we can to be God’s faithful people, confident of God’s sustaining grace.