Faith Church — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Senior Pastor transition — Steve Viars resigned 10/17/2024; successor not yet identified from available sources.

Founded Unknown

Denomination EFCA

Service Times Multiple campuses — see faithlafayette.org

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.faithlafayette.org

Pastor Credentials Steve Viars served 37 years; forced to resign 10/17/2024 due to marital issues (wife left citing unloving treatment). No physical violence or sexual immorality reported.

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

EFCA SOF Trinitarian orthodoxy; biblical counseling tradition affirms deity of Christ.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

EFCA SOF affirms inerrancy; biblical counseling emphasizes sufficiency of Scripture.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Explicit Men's Residential Counseling program plus typical men's ministry.

Strong

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

EFCA SOF sola fide; nouthetic/ACBC-aligned counseling.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

Strongly complementarian — Viars's resignation was explicitly framed around biblical elder qualifications (1 Tim 3) regarding his marriage; plural-male-elder polity.

Strong complementarian polity; public removal of Steve Viars for failing 1 Timothy 3 husband qualifications demonstrates elder-accountability commitment.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Plurality of pastors/deacons who publicly disciplined the senior pastor per biblical criteria — textbook transparent accountability.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Expositional preaching tradition; ACBC/biblical counseling movement hub.

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Faith Ministries extensive outreach: Christian school, seminary, senior living, shelter.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Counseling-ministry framing explicitly rejects integrationist/secular frameworks.

Strong

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA); confessional.

Strong

Assessment

Faith Church in West Lafayette, IN. Needs evaluation. [NOTE] Leadership in transition. Steve Viars (37-year pastor, prominent biblical counseling leader) resigned Oct 2024 after pastors/deacons determined his marital condition did not meet biblical elder qualifications. New pastor not yet confirmed.

#indiana#national#efca#needs-review

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

The transparent, biblically-grounded removal of a long-tenure senior pastor is actually evidence of strong accountability structure — green denominational/leadership scores maintained despite flag.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20251205115131/https://julieroys.com/…
↳ Snapshot of julieroys.com/biblical-counseling-leader-steve-viars-forc… (live link)
[2] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20250913035304/https://ministrywatch.…
↳ Snapshot of ministrywatch.com/biblical-counseling-movement-leader-ous… (live link)
[3] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260207014407/https://www.basedinlaf…
↳ Snapshot of basedinlafayette.com/p/pastor-steve-viars-asked-to-resign (live link)
[4] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260309061450/https://www.faithlafay…
↳ Snapshot of faithlafayette.org (live link)

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.