MT. COMFORT — As western Hancock County keeps growing and changing, a local pastor hopes people who feel caught between the construction of new homes and businesses can still live within community.
Movie Theater Church is playing host to a “Keeping Community” event on Monday, Jan. 28, at its location inside Mt. Comfort United Methodist Church, 3179 N. County Road 600W. Ethan Maple, pastor of Movie Theater Church, said the event’s discussion will focus on how to grow and adapt as the area does.
Mt. Comfort, an unincorporated part of Hancock County, has continuously been shifting from an agricultural area to one with newer industrial factories and distribution centers built on former farmland. The economic development has brought jobs to the county, but it’s forever changed the makeup of the environment. Maple said those feelings have been expressed in conversations he’s had at his church.
The Keeping Community event will address those concerns through discussions from a panel of local leaders as well as breakout sessions. Attendees can also see the Urban Land Institute’s recent study and presentation on the Mt. Comfort Corridor. The nonprofit group studied the area’s growth last week.
The idea for the event came from the Wabash Democracy and Public Discourse Initiative at Wabash College, Maple said. Student fellows work with Indiana communities to discuss their pressing issues.
For Mt. Comfort and western Hancock County: What can residents do to be part of the change?
Maple said it starts with rethinking the definition of community.
He said people need to broaden their scope of the word and understand that people in Mt. Comfort and Buck Creek Township can come together even if it seems like fewer neighbors are nearby. According to the 2010 census, Buck Creek Township had about 8,400 residents; most live closer to Greenfield and Cumberland.
There aren’t many homes or farms left between County Road 200N and Indianapolis Regional Airport, the area most commonly associated with Mt. Comfort. According to the Urban Land Institute’s study on the Mt. Comfort Corridor, they recommend the area near Interstate 70 be designated for industry.
That leaves less of a focus in Mt. Comfort on residences, Maple said.
“So, what does that mean for community?” he said. “And can you have community in that type of environment?”
People from western Hancock County typically reside in either New Palestine, Cumberland, McCordsville or Fortville. Maple’s family lives in New Palestine; his wife works in Greenfield; and he pastors the church in Mt. Comfort. Each town has its own identity, but Maple said they’re all part of a larger picture.
“So what does it mean to know or believe that whenever people are together, community is present,” Maple said, “whether that’s because they are working in the same warehouse, or they’re going to appointments at the new hospital offices, or they’re having lunch at McDonalds, Wendy’s or Burger King, or they’re going to church, or they’re going to a PTO meeting.”
Maple hopes the event can empower residents to understand what community could look like along the Mt. Comfort Corridor in 10 to 15 years as McCordsville keeps growing south and Cumberland to the east.
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WHAT: "Keeping Community: What does our future look like?"
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28
WHERE: Movie Theater Church at Mt. Comfort United Methodist Church, 3179 N. County Road 600W
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The Keeping Community event will have a panel five local leaders:
Mike Higbee, vice president of Thomas P. Miller and Associates
Mike Burrow, CEO of NineStar Connect
Tonya Galbraith, town manager of McCordsville
Brad Burkhart, Hancock County Sheriff and farmer
Steve Long, president and CEO of Hancock Health
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