With the close of our 2022 annual conference, Wesleyans in Indiana officially begin their 175th year of connectional ministry. Wesleyan congregations in Fountain City (Richmond LifeSpring), New Castle (Mt. Zion Wesleyan), and Westfield had already started worshiping together and acting against slavery in 1843, the same year as the organizing conference of the Wesleyan Methodist Connection of America met in Utica, New York (May 31 to June 8, 1843). The Indiana Conference was established by the second General Conference meeting in 1848, just five years later, with two districts (Fountain City and Westfield) and Rev. Daniel Worth serving as Conference President. The following year, the Indiana Conference gathered in Westfield (October 3-6, 1849) to review the work of God in their mission field. Ten circuits were reported with 18 elders (ordained ministers), 22 licensed ministers, and 1167 members. Today, we stand on their shoulders as we move into our 180th year of connectional ministry with confidence that God is still moving! Our largest group of candidates (16) was ordained on Friday evening, June 24, at College Wesleyan Church in Marion with Dr. Wayne Schmidt, General Superintendent, presiding. In addition to these 16 ordinands, we also welcomed Rev. Steve Russell and Rev. Jerome Bell as ordained ministers transferring into The Wesleyan Church. Special thanks to Dr. Chris Williams and Rev. Carla Working, District Board of Ministerial Development chair and vice-chair, for their exceptional leadership in preparing these ordinands and conducting this meaningful service. The service concluded with all the ordained ministers of the Crossroads District gathering around those newly ordained ministers and their spouses for a collective blessing led by Dr. Jim Lo. A delightful reception followed with delicious refreshments provided by Velvet Haisley, our favorite caterer. Dr. Wayne Schmidt convened the 2022 District Conference at the IWU Chapel at 9 a.m on Saturday morning, June 25. Over 350 voting delegates registered for this important time of deliberation and vision casting. The delegates considered a number of items including electing district board members and extending the call of the district superintendent. General Conference memorials were received and approved by more than the required 2/3 of votes cast. Memorial #52 (Gifts of the Spirit) is a constitutional matter and still has a long journey ahead. If passed by the required 2/3 aggregate of all the delegates voting in the district conferences this summer, it will next go to the Board of the International Conference of The Wesleyan Church for referral to the other two General Conferences (Caribbean and Philippines) for their concurring vote. This is because our proposed change to the articles of religion would be in conflict with the Essentials of the International Conference of The Wesleyan Church (see Discipline 6725:3(c)). Only after this approval process is complete would Memorial #52 become effective for Wesleyan churches in North America. (Discipline 6745:8) Pray that God will grant wisdom and unity through this process. Other highlights of our conference included the ministry statistical report that showed an increase of 23% in both baptisms and worship attendance along with a 47% increase in professions of faith. Our treasurer provided an encouraging financial report with churches contributing 97% of the USF assessment. That will enable us to transfer an ending balance of $69k from the General Operations Fund to the Thrive Fund. In turn, the Thrive Fund will work with Wesleyan HQ’s TFI program to provide scholarships for pastors to attend The Gathering of The Wesleyan Church in Orlando, January 4-7, 2023. When the local church approves $250, the district Thrive Fund will match that with $500, and the denomination will match that with another $250 to help our pastors and their spouses participate in this national event. Thank you to every leader who makes the United Stewardship Fund a priority investment for your congregation! Rev. Carol Schenck stepped down from being District Secretary since the Crossroads merger in 2016. We are deeply grateful for her excellent and dedicated service. Carol will continue to co-pastor Circle of Hope with Dr. Rich Schenck. Rev. Craig Thurman was elected by the conference to succeed her as our new District Secretary. Other newly-elected DBA members include Dr. Steve Bray (LifeSpring), Rev. Michelle Henry (Brookhaven), Rev. Neftali Lopez (Carmel Amistad), Mrs. Cindy Horn (Eastview) and Mrs. Reva Hoover Schultz (Indianapolis Trinity). We recognized our three Assistant District Superintendents, Rev. Michael Colaw, Rev. Matthew Trexler, and Dr. Chris Williams, who have all served us so well in this role for the past six years. Dr. Chris Williams, Assistant DS, was named vice-chair of the District Board and will continue to lead the DBMD with Rev. Carla Working. Rev. Michael Colaw has agreed to serve as our Crossroads District representative on the Indiana Wesleyan University Board of Trustees and Rev. Matthew Trexler was appointed district treasurer by the DBA. We also recognized our district’s Circuit Riders: Dr. Jim Lo, Dr. David Smith, and Rev. Mark Atkinson, our newest addition to the team. These ministers represent the Crossroads District in our churches serving as catalysts for revival and encouraging our pastors. Mr. Duffy Smith, a valued coach and mentor to a dozen of our pastors, was affirmed as an honorary Crossroads District Circuit Ride. We thank God for the investment these leaders are making in our district team. June 24 was a historic day for our country. Since Roe v. Wade was enacted in 1973, unrestricted abortion had been the law of the land. The Supreme Court ruling of June 24 was that states must be free to make that determination since the United States Constitution does not. After the abortion of more than 60 million innocent pre-born children and 5 decades of prayer, the tide had turned. No longer will the USA be on the very short list with North Korea and China of countries with unrestricted, including full-term, abortions. The work of the pro-life movement is not just legal but also an ongoing ministry of compassion and care. With that historic decision in view, the conference received and unanimously approved a motion supporting a $10,000 contribution to Hephzibah62:4 Ministries. We encourage your church to rise to this challenge. With thanksgiving to God for answered prayer in the ruling of the Supreme Court of The United States that overturned Roe V. Wade, a historic decision that will save so many precious unborn children: I move that the District Conference empower the District Board of Administration to immediately donate $10,000 to Hephzibah62:4 Ministries and that we challenge all the churches of the Crossroads District to rise to this opportunity to amplify our ministry and care for vulnerable mothers and children. Your church can rise to this challenge by supporting Hephzibah, your local crisis pregnancy center, or through other unique ministries that God has raised up in your church’s community. What we cannot do is nothing. God has answered prayer. We have this window of opportunity to advance a culture of life-giving hope and support to replace what Mother Teresa called a “culture of death.” Here is one of her more convicting quotes: Conference concluded with our 1-2-3 challenge. We are challenging every pastor and church leadership team to identify, pray for, and invest in 1 more place to go and 2 new leaders to grow over the next 3 years. We still have 3 million unreached people in the state of Indiana so we must answer God’s call to go and make disciples! Thank you to Rev. Carla Working, Dr. Chris Williams, Michael Wood, Rev. Chip Bos, Rev. Jarod and Mrs. Kayla Webb, Rev. Jeff Brady Rev. Lane Sander, and the dozens of volunteers who made our conference such a success. We also want to thank College Wesleyan Church and Indiana Wesleyan University for hosting us this year. And thanks be to God for the wonderful work He is doing among us. Sunday, June 26, Rev. Lyle and Pat Breeding welcomed me to Bluffton Sonlight Church. This church is on the move with community engagement, a thriving counseling center (led by Rev. Lane Sander), and a reignited prayer ministry that is making a difference. Last year they celebrated 16 professions of faith and 8 baptisms. It was a delight to worship with Pastor Lyle and his team and to catch a glimpse of all that God is doing them to bless their community! I love receiving and sharing reports of baptisms from across our district team. Last week, Pastor Scott McDermid and Six Points Church celebrated three professions of faith and three baptisms! Dr. Joe Harmon and the team at New Castle Memorial Drive Wesleyan Church are also celebrating five lives #MadeNew by the Gospel! Praise God for the wonderful ways He is at work in our churches! Our sympathies and prayers are extended to Dr. H.C. Wilson, retired General Superintendent, on the passing of Gloria, his beloved wife and ministry partner for more than 56 years. The celebration of life service will be held at Beulah Camp in New Brunswick, Canada on July 6. The Wilsons lived in Indianapolis for several years during Dr. Wilson’s service at Wesleyan Headquarters. The photo below includes their daughter, Kristi, and their son, Troy. Memorial gifts may be directed to World Hope Canada or to Beulah Camp. Keeping on shining the Lord (John 1:5) and making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent Sunday morning, June 19, I had the joy of worshiping with Rev. Calimerio and Maria Rodriguez at Templo dr Poder Iglesia Wesleyana (Temple of Power Wesleyan Church) in Frankfort. This vibrant congregation averages 65 in attendance with people driving from as far as Noblesville and Lafayette. Pastor and Mrs. Rodriguez have faithfully served as bi-vocational pastors for the church since 2001. The church had a special sermon and recognition time for all the fathers that included several children coming forward to read scriptures verses. The Templo de Poder congregation lost beloved family members to Covid over the past two years but they are pressing forward to make disciples. Sunday afternoon, I was glad to join Rev. Nicolas and Rev. Adriana Zarate for their worship service at Rey de Gloria (King of Glory) Iglesia Wesleyana, a ministry of the Circle of Hope network of churches based in Noblesville and led by Dr. Rich and Rev. Carol Schenck. Pastor Adriana has recently returned from being with her family in Argentina during the illness and death of her father. After the worship service, the Zarates introduced me to a newer couple in their church, Walter and Diana, who are taking FLAMA courses and envisioning church planting possibilities with the Zarates. Pray that God will bless these leaders and their multiplication vision! Sunday evening, Rev. John Davey invited me to join in with the members at Hartford City Wesleyan Church for a special local church conference. Rev. Davey had served effectively this year as the interim pastor and this conference was a celebration of what God has accomplished in the past year including 11 baptisms and the 100% vote to call Rev. Josh Fox as their next pastor. We’re excited to welcome Josh, Candy and their family to the Crossroads District in July. The highlights of last week were three amazing youth camps that ministered to more than 400 of our district youth. Tuesday morning, I dropped in at Fairmount Camp and was blessed by the ministry of Dr. Jim Lo. There was a wonderful response to the invitation at the close of the service. Tuesday afternoon, I was able to connect with Rev. Marc Ulrich who was in Marion with teenagers from ReThink Church (Merrillville) who were attending Never The Same Camp at IWU. Later on Tuesday, I attended the NTS evening rally and was able to connect with several of our pastors and their students. Wednesday morning, I was invited to meet with Rev. Johanna Rugh, the newly-elected Executive Director of Education and Clergy Development for The Wesleyan Church. Rev. Rugh had a wealth of pastoral and district leadership experience before coming to ECD. She has also been a wonderful encourager to our Hispanic pastors and a champion for women in ministry. It was an honor to meet with her and to hear more about her vision for ministerial development in The Wesleyan Church. We are also glad that she and her family are becoming members at Trinity Wesleyan Church and that Rev. Rugh will be transferring her credentials to become part of the Crossroads District. Pray for our leaders! Wednesday evening, Rev. Zachary and Rev. Carla Working invited me to join the team from Huntington Hope Rising Church as they hosted a conversation with a nearby UMC congregation. This church leadership team had asked to meet with them about the possibility of merging into the good work that God is doing through Hope Rising. It was a very helpful conversation and we are praying that God provides wisdom and direction to all involved. Thursday morning, I hit the road headed west past Lafayette to Hanging Rock Camp where Rev. Seth Merrill and his team hosted their annual youth camp that serves several of our churches from Tipton Trinity to New Carlisle. This is a classic camp setting with more than 200 acres including horseback riding, ziplines, and a swimming pool. This year’s camp evangelist was Trevor Heyd, a long-time friend from our days in West Michigan District. Special thanks to Pastor Seth and Breanna Merrill for all their hard work and the leadership they bring to this important camping partnership! I made it back in time to worship with the team at Fairmount youth camp for their final evening rally. In addition to the wonderful crew that worked with Executive Director Rev. Angela Spangler, it was fun to see the collaboration of summer ministry teams representing Kingswood University, Southern Wesleyan University, and Indiana Wesleyan University. Pray for our youth who attended these summer camps last week and for those who will be attending Week #2 of NTS at IWU this week. Significant decisions were made for Christ. Reach out to the students in your church to let them know that you are praying for them and standing with them as they follow Christ! In addition to camping ministries, two of our churches were competing in the national finals for the Wesleyan Bible Bowl quizzing program hosted this year at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, South Carolina. Rev. Randy Yaryan (Winchester) and Rev. Matthew Stewart (Sweetser) both took quiz teams that did well in the national competition. If your church is interested in starting a quiz team and the substantial college scholarships that can be won in these competitions, I encourage you to reach out to Randy or Matt for the next steps your church can take to become part of this exciting opportunity. We always love to pass along reports of God changing lives. Dr. Bob Hallett has been serving as the interim pastor at Anderson Lone Oak Wesleyan Church during this past conference year. He shared the good news of 4 professions of faith last year and 3 baptisms including the most recent one captured here. Praise the Lord for lives being #MadeNew! Congratulations to Rev. Rochelle and Travis Jenkins (Indianapolis Circle City Church) on the birth of their son, Atlas James Jenkins. For those of you who have followed their journey, you will know what an amazing answer to prayer is captured in this picture. We celebrate this precious gift of life! This is the week that we’ve been planning and praying for when our Crossroads District team comes together for Ordination and Annual Conference. Ordained ministers will meet at College Wesleyan at 6:30 on Friday for our group photo and prayer with the ordinands. The service will commence promptly at 7:00 pm with General Superintendent Dr. Wayne Schmidt presiding. A reception will follow. Conference registration will open Saturday at 8 a.m. in the Chapel at IWU. The first session of our annual conference will begin promptly at 9. We’re blessed once again this year to have Dr. Wayne Schmidt, our General Superintendent, present to chair the conference. Key items coming before us this year will include the two constitutional changes voted on at General Conference that are to be considered by each district conference. Constitutional memorials require a two-thirds vote by the delegates at General Conference and then a two-thirds aggregate vote of all delegates voting at the several district conferences this summer. To review those constitutional memorials, please visit these links at the denomination’s website: https://www.wesleyan.org/memorial-52-14thgc Please join us in praying for a special sense of God’s presence and our obedience to His direction as we gather for ordination and conference again this year, the 174th time that Wesleyans have gathered in Indiana since the first conference was formed in 1848. Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent PS: For those of you who serve as treasurers or submit mileage for reimbursement, the IRS announced last week that the mileage tax rate beginning July 1 will be 62.5 cents per mile for business use of a vehicle. (It will be important to keep records from January 1 to June 30 separate from mileage for July 1 through December 31). Charitable mileage has not changed and remains at 14 cents per mile. Sherry and I joined Pastor Mark and Ronda Atkinson for his final day as lead pastor at Eastview Wesleyan Church in Gas City. Pastor Mark has served Eastview for a total of 26 years, the first 13 as the youth pastor and then the last 13 years as lead pastor. In between, Mark and Ronda were used by God to plant a Wesleyan church in Macon, Georgia. The church has experienced growth in worship attendance, evangelistic effectiveness, and community impact under Rev. Atkinson’s leadership. Dr. Joe Harmon (lead pastor at New Castle Memorial Drive Wesleyan Church) joined the celebration with lots of fun memories from the years when Mark was Joe’s assistant pastor. All four of Pastor Mark and Ronda’s children along with a table full of grandchildren came together for this special occasion. Between the first service in Jonesboro and the second service in Gas City, more than 300 people gathered to celebrate Mark’s ministry. We’re looking forward to having Pastor Mark join the district staff this year as the third of our Circuit Riders. He’ll be visiting up to 20 of our churches with a special emphasis on the joy of personal evangelism. On behalf of the Crossroads District, I had the privilege of leading the installation liturgy for Rev. Noah Farmer who transitioned from his role as executive pastor to become the new lead pastor. Pastor Noah, Christie, and the Farmer family are lifelong residents of the community. We’re praying with Pastor Noah and the Eastview team as they move into this new chapter of ministry. Sunday evening, I traveled to South Bend for a regional prayer gathering hosted by Rev. Greg Holmes and the team at Sonlight Wesleyan Church. It was a blessing to participate in this hour of prayer led by Rev. Holmes, Rev. Vaughn (The Bridge Urban Church), Rev. Don Bayne (New Carlisle Wesleyan), Rev. Matt Ohime (Davis Wesleyan), and Rev. Ben Jones (Beaver Creek Wesleyan). Our next regional prayer gathering will be held in September. Tuesday, I had the privilege of representing the Heartland Region at the Indiana South District Conference. We continue to grieve the loss of our colleague and friend Dr. Mark Eckart, but there was a wonderful spirit of unity as the conference elected Rev. Doug Preston to be their new District Superintendent. Some of you will know Doug as the pastor used by God to write a miracle of revitalization at Lifeline Wesleyan Church in Greensburg, Indiana where he served for 17 years. More recently, Doug has joined the leadership team of the Dirt Roads Network as their director of revitalization initiatives, so he’ll be dividing his time between the district and DRN. Congratulations and prayers for Rev. Doug Preston and the Indiana South District as they move forward in church planting and revitalization. Gas City Eastview Wesleyan Church had another significant transition last week. Rev. Mark Atkinson conducted the funeral on Wednesday for Mr. David Huffman, long-time member and treasurer of the church, who passed away unexpectedly at age 53. In addition to his responsibilities at VIA Credit Union and at Eastview, Dave was active in his community and had served as volunteer treasurer for Marion Brinker Heights Wesleyan Church and for the Arise church plant in Roanoke. Pastor Mark did a wonderful job of honoring Dave and pointing people to Jesus. Let me encourage you to offer focused prayer on behalf of our teenagers this week. Both Hanging Rock Camp near Lafayette, led by Rev. Seth Merrill, and Fairmount Camp, led by Rev. Jeff Brady, will be hosting youth camps for our Crossroads District churches this week. Pictured below is the scene at Laketon Wesleyan Church as Pastor David Cox and the congregation prayed over the teens from their church who will be taking part in youth camp this week. Many of you will have memories of God working in your life during this special time of ministry. Pray for young lives to be changed and young leaders to be called to His service! Also on the agenda this week is the national Wesleyan Bible Bowl competition to be held at Southern Wesleyan University. Pictured below is Dr. Matthew Stewart, pastor of Sweetser Wesleyan Church and master Bible quiz coach, as he leads their congregation in praying for the teams that will be competing this week. If your church would like to learn more about the Wesleyan Bible quizzing program, please reach out to Dr. Stewart. Nothing brings greater joy to our team than to rejoice with our churches who are celebrating baptisms! Pastor Harold Henson and the Colfax Wesleyan Church family celebrated two baptisms on Sunday, June 5. This was even more meaningful for Rev. Harold and Angie Henson are completing their ministry at Colfax and moving to Alabama where they’ve accepted a new pastoral calling. We will miss them and are grateful for the impact they have made at Colfax Wesleyan Church. Rev. Matthew Trexler and the team at The River Church celebrated baptisms again yesterday. We are rejoicing with these professions of faith and giving God all the praise for lives being #MadeNew! The Crossroads District Ordination and Conference are coming next week, June 24-25. Join us in praying for God’s anointing on these important gatherings. Please pray that we will enjoy a keen awareness of His presence, clearly discern His will, and faithfully move forward in unity to accomplish His mission for us. Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent Sunday, June 5, my schedule opened up at the last minute, so I had the opportunity to drop in on two of our churches on the way to my afternoon appointment. My first stop was at Warsaw Pathway Church where I had the opportunity to hear Assistant Pastor Samantha Freds preach. Pastor Jarod Osborne and his family were out of town, but it was good to connect with Samantha and other friends from their leadership team. This has been a difficult month for the Pathway Church with the death of one of their beloved lay staff team members and three of their families involved in a series of automobile accidents. If that wasn’t enough trauma, another nearby church was rocked by the news that their pastor admitted to sexual abuse of a minor. Pray for the Pathway team as they minister to their grieving community. My second stop of the morning was with Pastor Matt and Kendra Ohime at Davis Wesleyan Church, located outside of Hamlet. Pastor Matt has been hard at work leading the revitalization efforts at Davis Wesleyan since arriving in 2018. Rev. Ohime has also taken on the leadership for the Starke County Resource Center and its thrift store in nearby Knox. Pastor Matt has also joined the team with Rev. Steve McVey and the Dirt Roads Network, a national ministry focused on planting and revitalizing churches in rural communities. Pray for Matt, Kendra and their family as they impact their rural community for Christ! My third stop of the day was with a group of UMC lay leaders from area churches who invited me to participate in a Q&A session. These congregations are making plans to disassociate from the UMC denomination and invited me to answer questions they had about The Wesleyan Church. They have also planned meetings with representatives from the Free Methodist Church and the Global Methodist Church (the new denomination created by former UMC pastors and congregations, most of whom are also members of the Wesleyan Covenant Association). These are interesting times in which we serve. My last stop of the day before heading home was with Rev. Dr. Rich and Rev. Carol Schenck at their Anderson campus for Circle of Hope Wesleyan Church. Circle of Hope adopted the former Anderson Central Wesleyan Church four years ago when it was going through a difficult season. Being part of this network has helped them recover from that tough patch and there is a growing sense that this campus could be strong enough to relaunch. Pastors Rich and Carol met with interested members last evening and helped them consider the next steps in the process. These steps would include the Circle of Hope LBA naming a launch team, working with their coach to create a Ministry Action Plan (MAP) for the next 12-18 months of ministry, and seeking district approval for the launching of the Anderson campus as a new church. This will be an important transition so your prayers are appreciated. Speaking of prayer, our sixth monthly Crossroads District prayer gathering of 2022 will be held this Sunday evening, June 12, at South Bend Sonlight Wesleyan Church, beginning promptly at 6 p.m. I’m grateful for Pastor Greg Holmes who has agreed to host our gathering and to Pastor Terry Vaughn (South Bend The Bridge Urban Church), Rev. Don Bayne (New Carlisle Wesleyan), Rev. Matthew Ohime (Davis Wesleyan), and Rev. Ben Jones (Beaver Creek Wesleyan) who will be sharing in the leadership of this service. You are cordially invited to join us for this prayer gathering. Yesterday was a time of special celebration at Winchester Union Street Wesleyan Church as the congregation marked the 25th anniversary of Rev. Randy and Carol Yaryan’s ministry to the church and community. The church was founded in 1925 and Pastor Yaryan is the longest-serving pastor in the church’s nearly 100 years. In addition to his ministry at the church, Pastor Randy has been active in coaching community athletic teams and has driven a school bus for 16 of those 25 years. Rev. Yaryan has also coached Bible quizzing teams that have competed at the national level on several occasions. Congratulations to Rev. Randy and Carol Yaryan on this significant milestone of ministry. Crossroads District has a goal of celebrating 1000 baptisms in a single year. We’ve not hit that mark yet but we’re off to a good start in this new conference year. Rev. Dr. Matthew Stewart and the team at Sweetser Wesleyan Church celebrated one baptism and another affirmation of infant baptism yesterday morning. The baptism was especially meaningful for Pastor Matt and Jennifer because this was their youngest child publicly professing her faith in Jesus Christ! Rev. Mark Atkinson and the team at Gas City Eastview Church celebrated three baptisms yesterday morning during their services and Pastor Mark also had the opportunity to baptize a woman in her hospital bed on Saturday. Pastor Mark also baptized two new believers at the reservoir last Thursday for a total of six baptisms in three different locations over the past 10 days. Praise God for these lives being #MadeNew! I am pleased to announce that the Crossroads District will be offering Wesleyan Church History & Discipline course again this fall. This class is designed for students in the DBMD (District Board of Ministerial Development) credentialing process. This class is tuition-free through the sponsorship of the district but ALL 4 SESSIONS must be attended in order to receive credit towards ordination. (There are required textbooks to be purchased for those seeking certification.) Please pass the word along to any staff and ministerial students on your team that could benefit from this class. Contact Rev. Carla Working to register for the course. Class Sessions are scheduled for the following dates: Saturday, October 1 – 9am-4pm (in person – Marion) Monday, October 10 – 6-8:30pm (Zoom) Monday, October 24 – 6-8:30pm (Zoom) Saturday, November 5 – 9am-4pm (in person – Marion) We’re counting the days until the Crossroads District Ordination and Conference, June 24 and 25, in Marion. The Friday evening ordination service will be held at College Wesleyan Church and the day of conference proceedings will be held in the Indiana Wesleyan University Chapel. Please pray for these important meetings and the decisions that will be made during our time together. Here’s the link for more information: https://conference.crossroadsdistrict.org Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent |
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