Some buildings blend quietly into their surroundings. Others insist on being remembered. Sparta Christian Church does both! It’s thanks to the structure’s monumental architecture and bizarre neon sign.
Sparta Christian Church got its start in 1878, when Thomas Witman gathered twenty people together in a schoolhouse just south of Sparta Lake1, half mile west of what later became the Lincoln Highway2. Someone donated land to erect a proper sanctuary, and one was built in 1880. Its brick replacement -the extant structure- was dedicated in 19203.
A half mile south of downtown Kimmell, Sparta Church is a true landmark. It features a square, corner tower with an open, arched belfry, a stone-trimmed cornice, Tudor-arched windows, and stained glass with wooden tracery4. Nearly 4,000 people are buried at Sparta Cemetery, which envelops the church on nearly every side.
I first spotted Sparta Christian Church on my inaugural trip to see my dad in Elkhart when I was about seven. As an advanced fan of architecture even then, you’d think it would’ve been the brick tower, the solemn arches, or even the exposed bell mechanism that caught my eye. It wasn’t. Instead, defiantly out of place, was a neon sign blazing “JESUS NEVER FAILS” around the outline of a cross. It was bright and bold; impossible to ignore.
The neon sign of Sparta Christian Church almost refuses to belong. Neon is the language of diners, motels, and late-night storefronts after all, not -I thought- a rural sanctuary surrounded by fields and gravestones! It’s bright where everything else is subdued, kitschy and retro where everything else leans historic, and loud in a place that otherwise feels quiet and contemplative. The contrast is so sharp that my eye has never been able to help but go straight to it, even with the rest of the building’s architecture trying to pull me back. It’s truly an oddity. I’ve never seen anything like it.
As to when the sign was installed, I have no idea. It doesn’t appear in an old postcard published in what I’d guess to be the 1920s, but showed up in a 1985 survey of the site5. Maybe it was installed in the 60’s or 70’s. At any rate, I just joined a Kimmell history group on Facebook. I hope someone there can help me out.
At any rate, the sign is why Sparta Christian Church has stuck with me all these years. The signs surrounds aren’t just relics or a landmark. Instead, they’re grounded in the architecture of the 19th century while flashing something unmistakably from the 20th! The cemetery reminds you of everything that’s come and gone, and much of the church reinforces it. That neon, though, cuts through all of it with a message that refuses to age or fade into the background. Out of place or not, it’s part of the story now.
Sources Cited
1 Hixson, W.W. (1925). Plat book of Noble County, Indiana. W.W. Hixson & Co. [Rockford]. Map.
2 History (n.d.). Sparta Christian Church [Kimmell]. Web. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
3 (See footnote 2).
4 Sparta Christian Church and Cemetery, Sparta Christian (1985). IHSSI (County Survey). SHAARD [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved May 1, 2026.
5 (See footnote 4).
Pretty neat! I take it the sign’s still operational?
I wonder how easy it’d be to sneak into town and put a “Miller High Life On Tap” sign under it…Kimmell seems likes the kind of place where they roll up the sidewalks at night. ;^)
The “FAILS” part wasn’t lit when I stopped by, but the rest was, although it’s hard to see.
A late night trip to add the High Life sign seems like a challenge my dad would have accepted!
So basically the sign was reading “Jesus Never”. Seems like somebody might’ve needed to think that through a little bit. ;^)
Certainly better ways of phrasing it!
The sign was there in 1973, at least!
https://vintageaerial.com/photos/indiana/noble/1973/TNO/61/9
Good eye! I’ll have to hit up a Kimmel group on Facebook. They exist!
The sign has the look of something off a big city storefront mission that caters to the homeless.
It truly does!
You need to check out the cross on the Blue River Valley Church of the Nazarene, 949E Luray Rd in the village of Luray! I believe it is lighted at night. It is actually a “campus” church of Middletown Nazarene Church.