Our Beginnings . . .

The Clay United Methodist Church was chartered by the South Bend District in 1966. Thirty families accepted the challenge of creating a new congregation. They obtained space in the Engineering Hall at the University of Notre Dame. And weekly transported all of the furnishings necessary to conduct a worship service. This continued for three years. The members were faithful in worship, hospitable, kind and caring in their relationships with one another. This small community of believers accepted the challenge of the Great Commission. They spread the Good News of the Gospel in the surrounding neighborhoods. As God blessed their efforts the congregation grew in numbers of families and expanded its ministries in the South Bend/ Mishawaka/ Granger communities.

Today Clay offers four Sunday morning worship experiences: 8:15 a.m. and
9:45 a.m. are spirited traditional services anchored by our Adult Choir; 11:15 a.m. is the Soul Journey worship service featuring our Adult Praise Team.  These three morning worship experiences take place at Clay Church, north campus, 52866 North Ironwood Rd., South Bend.  At 11:00 a.m. is Firehouse Youth worship at Clay Church, south campus, 17646 Cleveland Rd., South Bend, a service designed just for youth. Key outreach ministries at Clay today include: the Early Childhood Program (previously called Mother's Day Out and Little Lamb Preschool), two weekday children's programs ministering to nearly 300 children weekly; Sidewalk Sunday School, an outreach ministry to bring the gospel to the streets of South Bend: the Clay Food Pantry, an outreach to families in need. Today, Clay has a membership of 1,301 adult members, with average worship attendance of 700.

We are a "community of God's love committed to walking with more people toward a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ."