Teaching pastor of the Mosaic Church, Kasey Newbold (left) and church member Todd George inside the 3rd floor of the Lodge building at 5515 E. Washington Street, where Mosaic meets. (photo by Michelle Pemberton)

When he left his hometown of Spartanburg, S.C., to attend Brevard College in North Carolina, George discovered what he called a "community church." "It was so much more laid back," he said. "A lot of the religious jargon that you would normally hear -- 'Salvation comes to those who repent' -- wasn't used. What they said didn't have to be decoded."

When George moved to Indianapolis last summer, he bought a house in the Eastside neighborhood of Irvington. Within a couple of months, he found a flier for a new church on his doorstep. Its name, Mosaic, caught his eye, and George decided to go to the church's inaugural meeting in the Irvington Lodge.

"It was in this old Masonic temple," he remembered. "I had to get on this old, rickety elevator to get up to the service. I thought, 'This is going to be interesting.'"

What George encountered stood in stark contrast to the antiquated building that housed it. The pastor wore jeans and a T-shirt. He spoke in a casual, conversational tone. People ate during the service. Best of all, questions weren't frowned upon, but welcomed.

"It really spoke to me and my situation as a student," George said.

George has been attending Mosaic ever since, often hanging out with fellow members throughout the week.

"Sometimes we'll have conversations where the more conservative people, you can see in their faces when they are getting stretched," he said. "But that's the cool thing about Mosaic and the whole movement -- it gives people the permission to agree to disagree."

The "movement" George refers to is what many Christian leaders are calling the emerging church movement -- a response to the rigid traditions and rote rule-following of many mainstream Protestant and Catholic churches.

"Emerging" churches tend to be relaxed, relationship-based and flexible. They engage rather than preach, prize friendship over hierarchy and have worship styles that are organic and interactive rather than routine and institutional.

Indy.com recently spoke to four young leaders from local churches that share emerging qualities. We also spoke to the founder of the Indianapolis cohort for Emergent Village, an international network of people interested in the emergent movement.

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