Minister follows God’s plan to Tabernacle Christian Church

The message was too strong to ignore.

Diana Thompson had gone to school to study accounting, and was a stay at home mom to her children. Though she was very active in her church, it had not occurred to her to step into a ministerial role.

But all of a sudden, she felt something stirring in her — a push from God.

“I felt the call,” she said.

Thompson’s spiritual journey has brought her back to central Indiana. She is the new minister at Tabernacle Christian Church in Franklin, as the church officially held her installation ceremony on Oct. 8 to welcome her.

To the historic Franklin church, Thompson brings a refreshing, compassionate demeanor ideal for carrying on and improving the heritage it has established.

“Diana is open and honest in all things,” said Bruce Widener, board moderator and hiring committee chair at Tabernacle Christian Church. “Her sermons are thought-provoking and attempt to give us a small push to think about, read more or do something we may not have done or read. And she is supportive of all committees and efforts to better ourselves, our church and the community.”

Thompson came to ministry late in her life. Growing up in Morgan County, she had been active in her American Baptist church. She had gone to the church most of her life. Her parents had been married in the same church; she and her husband, John, had been married in the church, and their children had been raised in the church.

During a church retreat with her mother, one of the pastors taking part told her that she thought God would call Thompson into ministry.

“I was a young professional at the time, and it didn’t seem like my thing,” she said.

But when Thompson felt God calling her into ministry, she chose to follow it. She enrolled in Christian Theological Seminary, a seminary in the Disciples of Christ church located in Indianapolis.

While receiving her education, she struggled with whether to remain in the American Baptist tradition, or transition to Disciples of Christ. Her struggle centered on the more welcoming and open approach the Disciples of Christ took, particularly to the LGBTQ+ community.

“Ultimately, I decided to stay and be a voice for change within the American Baptist Church,” she said.

Thompson did her student pastoring at Emerson Avenue Baptist Church on the east side of Indianapolis, then took a full-time ministerial position in Dearborn, Michigan. The experience was enlightening and fulfilling, she said.

“The pastoral group there in Dearborn was not only ecumenical, but interfaith. Dearborn has a large Muslim population, so it was both Christian pastors and Islamic imams. We did a lot of things together, and it was an amazing experience,” she said.

The next stop for Thompson took her to South Bend, where she was also involved in interfaith activities in the community.

But despite her intentions to bring more openness and inclusivity to her denomination, she decided her efforts weren’t gaining traction.

“Over time, it became apparent to me that at least within the Indiana-Kentucky region, I was not going to be able to be a voice for change,” she said.

Thompson decided to move over to the Disciples of Christ, starting the process of moving her ordination to the denomination.

At the same time, both Thompson’s father and her husband’s mother were suffering from declining health. They decided to move back to central Indiana, pursuing a dream they had shared along with a friend of theirs: creating a hobby farm and retreat center.

“We decided this would be a good time to try and make that happen,” she said.

They found 11 acres of property in Brown County, where they live currently. The couple started attending worship services at Tapestry Church, a Disciples of Christ congregation in Bargersville. Soon after, Thompson received a call from the Disciples of Christ’s regional leadership inquiring if she’d be interested in an interim opening at Tabernacle Christian Church.

Thompson took over for Evie Stuard, who had been pastor at the church for about 15 years and retired in January. Though she initially came to Tabernacle Christian Church in an interim role, she was invited to stay on as the full-time senior minister.

“I started to fall in love with them. They were not finding a person they wanted to hire, and so I decided to go on retreat with the sole question of, is this where God wants me to be?” she said. “The answer was affirmative.”

The church’s pulpit search committee, as well as the congregation as a whole, saw something special in her.

“While Diana was our interim minister, the connection she made with the members was immediate. I was approached by several members that mentioned how comfortable they felt with her, her sermons, how genuine she is, and how much her sermons spoke to them,” Widener said. “A member approached me and mentioned they felt she was sent to us for a reason, and we should offer her the opportunity to be our senior minister.”

Members of the Tabernacle congregation experienced Thompson’s warmth. Karen Hardin, a member of the pulpit search committee, accompanied her to some of the church’s homebound members while she was serving as interim pastor.

One particular visit stood out.

“A woman well into her 90s with several sensory deficits reached out to her and stated, ‘I don’t know why God still wants me to be here,’” Hardin said. “Rev Diana sat down beside her with their hands clasped and listened. In that sacred moment I witnessed Rev. Diana’s deep faith and connection to God to comfort and be still with others. That is what Rev. Diana brings to our congregation and community.”

As she has become more familiar with the Tabernacle Christian Church community, she’s come to appreciate the people of the congregation.

The church hosts a free community meal every Wednesday for people in need of food and companionship. Since Thompson arrived, Tabernacle has had a presence at events such as Franklin Fall Festival, the student welcome event at Franklin College and Ethos Celebration of the Arts.

There’s talk of starting a drumming circle as well.

“One of the things I’ve noticed about this congregation is that they are overall very emotionally and spiritually healthy people,” she said. “I appreciate that they’re here in a small community where the church can be used as a gathering place, and be more integrated into the community.”

Thompson’s approach to faith is well suited to supporting and expanding those efforts, Widener said.

“Her ability to relate the Bible to today’s world opens our eyes and shows us that there are others in the world that aren’t as fortunate as we are, and they need our prayers and help.” he said. “It reminds us not to focus just on ourselves and our congregation, but on those all around the world.”

Editor’s note: This story originally said Tapestry Church is in Southport. However, the church moved to Bargersville about a year ago. The story was corrected to reflect this.