Our Story
Small Town. Serious Faith. Open Doors.
Lake Area Christian Church held its first meeting in Fremont on November 2, 2003. Scott and Mitzi Saltsman helped plant the congregation that day and have been here ever since — teaching the Bible, walking with families through hard seasons, and opening their home and their lake to anyone who needs a place to land.
We’re affiliated with the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ — a movement that began on the American frontier with a simple conviction: no creed but Christ, no book but the Bible, no name but the name. We’re autonomous. We govern ourselves by Scripture and by the consensus of the congregation. Nobody tells us what to believe from a headquarters somewhere else.
We currently gather on Sunday mornings at Fremont High School. Our reach goes further than Steuben County — relationships built on a mission trip to Nagaland, India opened a door for meaningful international ministry exchange in 2019. But our first calling is here, to this community.
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.
Hebrews 10:24–25What We Believe
Straight from Scripture
We don’t hold to a formal creed or confession. Our beliefs are drawn directly from the New Testament. These aren’t positions adopted by a denomination — they’re what we find when we read the Bible together.
Obey the Command of Christ
We take the Great Commission seriously — to go, to baptize, and to teach everything Jesus commanded.
Baptism for Salvation
We believe baptism is not a symbol of a decision already made, but an act of faith and obedience through which God works.
Forgiveness and the Holy Spirit
Repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ brings forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Buried and Raised with Christ
In baptism we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection — the old self buried, a new life begun.
Scripture Alone
No creed but Christ, no book but the Bible. All Scripture is God-breathed and sufficient for faith and practice.
The Gathered Church
We do not neglect meeting together. The local church is the body of Christ in a place — irreplaceable, not optional.
Leadership
The People Behind the Posts
LACC is led by Scott and Mitzi Saltsman. The title is “evangelist” — which in the Churches of Christ tradition means a preacher and shepherd of the local congregation. It’s a working title. They earn it every week.
Scott Saltsman
Scott helped plant Lake Area Christian Church in 2003 and has served as its evangelist ever since. Before full-time ministry, he served as a firefighter — a career that shapes how he shows up: steady, present, and oriented toward people in hard moments. He currently serves as Fire Chaplain for the Town of Fremont. He has taken the church's mission beyond Fremont, including a trip to Nagaland, India that opened a door for Trine University music director Mark Kays to teach and perform there for a month in 2019.
Mitzi Saltsman
Mitzi has served alongside Scott since the church's founding in 2003. She is the author of Once I Was Lost...But, Never Alone: A Journey (2023), a book that reflects the same faith that characterizes LACC's ministry. Her public biography says it plainly: "Mitzi and her husband, Scott, serve Christ in Fremont, Indiana, with the Lake Area Christian Church."
Sunday Morning
What to Expect When You Visit
We meet at Fremont High School. There’s parking, friendly faces at the door, and a seat for you. No dress code. No performance. Just people trying to worship God and understand the Bible together.
A typical Sunday includes singing — traditional hymns alongside praise and worship — prayer, communion, and preaching from wherever we are in the text. Children’s programs run during the worship hour.
View larger map → • Fremont High School, 701 W. Toledo St., Fremont, IN 46737
Baptism
In the Lake at Scott & Mitzi’s
When someone is ready to be baptized, we don’t use a tank in the back of a building. We go to the lake — Long Beach Lake at 660 Lane 101, Fremont — and the whole church comes to celebrate.
It’s one of the most distinctly LACC things we do. Baptism is a community event, not a private transaction.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:4Community
We Don’t Work Alone
LACC partners with churches and nonprofits across Steuben County. We believe the kingdom of God is bigger than any one congregation and that our neighbors are best served when we work together.
FYCO Food Pantry
Fremont Youth and Community Outreach serves 1,200+ families across 11 counties with no residency or income restrictions.
Learn More →Zion Missionary Church
A longtime neighbor and partner in serving the Fremont community.
Fremont Community Church
Partner in food distribution, community dinners, and shared ministry.
Learn More →Nevada Mills Community Church
Fellow congregation joining for community celebration and outreach.
Ready for a Sunday?
Come See for Yourself
Words on a page only go so far. The best way to understand what LACC is about is to walk through the door on a Sunday morning. We’ll be glad you came.