American Baptist Churches

EMCC has been a Home Mission of the American Baptist Churches since 1946.

American Baptist Churches USA (ABC) is a mainline Protestant church body with over 1.3
million members across the country. Tracing its roots back to the formation of the First Baptist
Church of Providence, Rhode Island in 1638, ABC was founded by minister Roger Williams,
who is credited not only with being the founder of the Baptist movement in America, but also the
founder of the state of Rhode Island and the first highly visible public leader to call for the
separation of Church and State in the newly forming country.

Today, in addition to supporting nearly 5,000 member congregations, ABC also operates several
mission-oriented societies including the American Baptist Home Mission Society and American
Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Edna Martin Christian Center is 1 of 26 ABHMS
neighborhood centers that are spread across the United States from West Sacramento, California
to Bangor, Maine and even Caguas, Puerto Rico.

Beginning in 1946, the heart-felt ministry and hard work that Edna Martin was pouring into her
Eastside Christian Center in the Martindale-Brightwood community of Indianapolis attracted the
attention and support of ABC, with the Center garnering an official designation as a Home
Mission of the Church. This designation and support enabled Mrs. Martin to expand her work
beyond caring for children after school, allowing her to create programs focused on parents and
their needs as well. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Edna Martin traveled extensively to rural
ABC congregations around Indiana to share about her work and explain how church members
could become involved. In particular, her message resonated with women’s groups who then
kept in communication with Mrs. Martin, setting up donation drives for goods and wish list items
that she shared as her needs evolved over time. During a time of increasing racial unrest and
tension between black and white communities in Indiana, these relationships were particularly
meaningful, pointing to a path forward where people of all backgrounds and skin colors worked
together in mutual support of those who lack access to opportunity.

As a Home Mission of the American Baptist Churches, the Eastside Christian Center continued
to grow to meet the needs of area residents, culminating in the realization of a dream: on June 20,
1965 the Center dedicated a new building at 1970 Caroline Avenue. The construction of the I-70
highway had left Mrs. Martin without a home for her Center, and ABC’s support made her dream
of site ownership a reality. With Mrs. Martin’s passing in 1974, The Eastside Christian Center
was named in her honor and now 50-years later is thriving by staying rooted in the legacy of
Edna Mae Barnes Martin.

ABC’s steadfast support for Edna Martin and the organization that came to be called the Edna
Martin Christian Center (EMCC) upon her passing hasn’t wavered in nearly 80 years.
Congregations all over Indiana and northern Kentucky continue to bless EMCC with direct
donations of food, clothing, and financial gifts that help to meet the needs of families striving to
lift themselves out of poverty.