Friday evening, June 27, Rev. Jorden Green and Rev. Dr. Aaron Wilkinson were ordained to the Christian ministry by the Crossroads District Conference of The Wesleyan Church. Dr. Wayne Schmidt, our General Superintendent, preached the message, led in the ritual of ordination, and also welcomed Rev. Dorothea Staten and Rev. Duncan Prior as ordained ministers transferring into our denominational family. Special thanks to Rev. Carla Working and the DBMD (District Board of Ministerial Development) who diligently prepared each candidate for this sacred moment.

Conference convened on Saturday morning, June 28, and Rev. Bill Babb III was one of the first delegates through the door. He downloaded his new digital pocket credential and a copy of conference handbook to his phone in record time! You can download a copy of the conference handbook at this link: https://bit.ly/dc25handbook
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There’s something special about worshiping the Lord in a room filled with passionate pastors and committed lay leaders. Thank you to Rev. Christian Kelley and Rev. Elizabeth Rhyno and their band for leading us in worship and preparing our hearts to receive communion together. Rev. Grace Lopez and Dr. Chris Williams, our two Assistant District Superintendents, read the Scripture and led us in receiving this means of grace.
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Doug Paul, of the Catapult Group, led us in a two-hour discovery session as delegates evaluated how we’re doing and what we could be doing better to make disciples who make disciples. There is still time for you to participate in our research and assessment work. Pastors will receive a direct link that will be open for 48 hours. We are dependent on every voice to help us make the most thorough assessment to guide our implementation proposal.
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The afternoon session included voting on DBA members, general conference delegates, and approving a memorial to general conference that more explicitly affirms our commitment to ordaining women and men for ministry. Welcome our newest DBA members, Rev. Carla Working (Huntington Hope Rising), Rev. Jacob Gibson and Mrs. Rachel McNett (both from Richmond LifeSpring Church) and Mr. Levi Huffman (Marion College Wesleyan Church).

The full conference journal (with approved minutes) will be published by August 31. We’ll be sharing a variety of the district ministry reports over the next few weeks while I’m away on vacation with Sherry, but let me share a few highlights. Together, by the grace of God, you set new records this year in professions of faith (1817) and baptisms (1137)! USF contributions hit 96% of our assessment. And 169 people declared a call to ministry last year. Praise the Lord!
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Sunday, June 30, I represented our district team at the closing service for Lakeview Wesleyan Church in Marion. This healthy, growing church prayerfully took a bold step of faith when the members voted earlier this month to join forces with The River Church. Dr. Chris Williams and Rev. Matthew Trexler have humbly and wisely led the conversations that led to this new partnership. Dr. Williams led a beautiful service that include congratulatory videos from General Superintendent Dr. Wayne Schmidt, Dwight Robertson, and John Ott. Mrs. JoAnn Ott Hinton, a charter member of the church, brought a moving challenge from her own legacy with the church and her bright hopes for the future. Pray for all in this season of transition.

God continues to bless our churches with lives being #MadeNew by the great news of the Gospel. Yesterday, Pastor Michael Hewitt and the team at Rising Hope Church in Muncie baptized a total of 4 new believers in their two morning worship services with 178 present!
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Dr. Craig and Tiffany Thurmon lead The Encounter Assembly, one of our newest churches in greater Indianapolis. Their online ministry has connected with families in Belize. Yesterday, two of these new believers flew from Belize to be baptized. They wanted to publicly profess their faith in Christ with the church family that has faithfully ministered to them online.
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Pastor Mark Atkinson and the team at Elwood Central Wesleyan Church are rejoicing with two more new believers who publicly affirmed their faith in Christ yesterday. Pastor Mark has been a blessing to our wider district over the past few years but has settled in to lead the revitalization movement happening at CWC. Thank you, Pastor Mark!
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Rev. Noah Farmer and the team at Eastview Wesleyan Church in Gas City celebrated two more baptisms yesterday. Eastview connected with a single mom and her four children through their IMPACT Kidz ministry. Two of them were baptized as new believers yesterday!
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We closed conference on Saturday asking the question, “What’s your number?” How many of the people who are lost in your neighborhood, your workplace, your town, your city, has God clearly burdened your church to reach? We must never neglect the global mission of the church but we have an Acts 1:8 mandate. There are 3+ million without Christ in our state but I’m convinced that God has a specific territory for your church to claim for His Kingdom. How many are yet unreached live within a 5 mile radius of your worship center? How many of them do you believe God could use your church to reach in the next 5 years? What’s your number?

​Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity!

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

Crossroads District Superintendent

​P.S. We’re excited to announce that IWU is hosting the Wesleyan Holiness Connection for a Pastors & Church Leaders Day on Tuesday, September 23. Here’s the link for full detail:
​https://advancement.indwes.edu/register/PCL2025

Sunday, June 22, was a beautiful day for visiting Crossroads District congregations. I was headed to Larwill but left early enough to briefly stop and say hello to Pastor Scotty Murphy and his Sunday School class at Mt. Etna Community Life Church. I arrived early at Larwill and enjoyed catching up with Pastor Thomas and Julie Beck. They’ve made significant improvements to the building in recent years. Rev. Beck has faithfully served this smaller congregation as bi-vocational pastor for 25 years!
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Just 30 minutes away from Larwill, Pastor Duane Seitz was concluding his ministry to Silver Lake Wesleyan Church. With the decision to close the church at the same time, there was a strong turnout of friends and supporters for the service and fellowship dinner. They honored Rev. Seitz for more than 60 years of ministry.

​Laketon Wesleyan Church is just 10 miles away from Silver Lake so that made it possible for me to join Pastor Duncan Prior and the LBA for part of their monthly meeting. I was able to answer some questions and then toured the modular unit they’ve secured to become their new fellowship hall.

The last stop of the day was with Rev. Rick Carder and the team at Lancaster Wesleyan Church. Pastor Rick was officially installed last evening. He and Cindy are off to a great start with excitement growing around the children’s ministry. Pastor Mark and Ronda Atkinson came for the special occasion and Pastor Mark led the closing prayer. Rev. and Mrs. Sam Maddox also drove down from Albion to show their support and encouragement to the Carders.

Sherry and I enjoyed our time with family in Florida last week but I was excited to return for the organizing Local Church Conference (LCC) at ONE Church in Westfield on Friday night. Pastor Andy and Leanza Riemersma have done a great job launching this new ministry. Organizing as an established church with members and their own Local Board of Administration (LBA) was a big step in their development process. God is changing lives in Westfield through ONE Church!

Saturday morning, I met with Pastor Terry Vaughn in Indianapolis as he prepared to lead our Urban Pastors Network monthly cohort meeting. My next stop was with Rev. Marc Ulrich in Merrillville for an exciting update on the progress of RE.THINK, our newest church in the northwest region. On my way back home, I was able to connect with Andy and Wendy Hammonds who lead the Chesterton campus for The River Church. I’m grateful for risk-taking leaders who launch new ministries to reach the lost!

Rev. Scott McDermid (Sheridan Six Points Wesleyan Church) and a team (including his older son) just returned from a short-term missions to El Salvador. Pastor Scott was back in time to celebrate another baptism at Six Points. Praise the Lord for lives being #MadeNew!

Dr. Theo Griffin concluded his ministry at Greenfield Brown's Chapel on a high note this weekend. Sunday was the conclusion of their annual sports camp with 85 children participating. They welcomed families back for a celebration Sunday and picnic. Best of all, the church celebrated a baby dedication and three baptisms. Praise God!
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​District Conference and Ordination week is finally here! Plan to join us for the Ordination and Celebration of Ministry rally at 6:00pm on Friday evening at Lakeview Wesleyan Church in Marion. Ordained ministers will gather at 5:20pm for our annual group photo.

Saturday morning, we’ll gather again at Lakeview for a full day of conference with elections and general conference memorials on the agenda. (Attendance is required for all credentialed ministers, unless excused in writing.) Doors will open for check-in at 8:30am and the first business session will begin at 9:00am. We welcome your prayer support as approximately 400 voting delegates assemble for this important annual meeting.

You can find more information here: 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

P.S. The Wesleyan Church is hosting regional youth events this fall with the closest one coming to Grand Rapids on Friday and Saturday, October 24-25. Our own Andy Riemersma is one of the featured artists. For more information, here’s the link: wesleyan.org/empoweredtour2025

Sunday, June 15, was a significant milestone in the stories of Lakeview Wesleyan Church and The River Church. By a vote of 107 to 57, the members of Lakeview voted to merge with The River. Lakeview was planted by Dr. Gene Cockrell back in 1960 with a vision to reach the lost in Grant County. Within 20 years, Lakeview would grow to become the largest Wesleyan church in the state of Indiana and a flagship church for our denomination.
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One young man impacted by Lakeview’s youth ministry was Matthew Trexler. Charlie Alcock, then Lakeview’s youth pastor, prayed with Matthew to receive Christ in September 1991. Matthew would later return to serve as youth pastor at Lakeview before stepping out in faith to plant The River in 2007. Beginning with just 17 people (including Pastor Matthew’s five family members), The River launched with the same vision that compelled Rev. Cockrell to plant Lakeview 57 years earlier. With the approval of the DBA and the consenting vote of each congregation, today begins a new chapter in the story of redemption that God has always been writing. Here’s the video announcement:
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Sherry and I took a few days off to visit our son in Florida for Father’s Day. Josiah serves on staff at Destiny Church (Destin campus) but his most important assignment is father of Layton and Isaac. I’d not seen these two grandsons since Thanksgiving so it was delightful to reconnect and see how fast they’ve grown. We were able to worship with Josiah who came off the platform to sit with his dad through the sermon.
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Last Tuesday, I met with Pastor Brian Williams (Sims Wesleyan Church) and Rev. Ben Jones (Beaver Creek Wesleyan Church – North Liberty) for coaching conversations. On my way to the coaching conversations, I dropped in on the team at Fairmount Camp. It was fun to connect with leaders and students from our district who were attending the new middle school camp that Fairmount launched this year to accommodate strong growth in the ministry. I stopped when I came to this group and saw Rev. Mike Colaw’s son leading the Bible study. Some of you will know that Pastor Mike (Indianapolis Trinity) is a third generation Wesleyan pastor and now there’s a fourth generation of Colaws answering the call.

Wednesday morning, I dropped in at IWU to connect with some of our students and leaders attending week #1 of NTS (Never the Same) camp. This summer marks the 25th anniversary of NTS. Special thanks to Rev. Darren Campbell and Rev. Geoff Eckart who shared the founding vision for this ministry. Now, two generations of the Eckart family continue to provide leadership to this ministry that impacts thousands of students attending from more than a dozen states each summer.

This week, NTS hosts their second week at IWU and Fairmount Camp hosts their senior high camp. Please continue to pray for these camping ministries that provide the opportunity for students to make decisions for eternity. Pray for the speakers and counselors who play such a key role in these moments and remember the dozens of volunteers who make camp happen.
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Wednesday also included a coaching conversation with Dr. Mark Rennaker (Kokomo Southdowns Wesleyan Church) in Marion. I met with Rev. Andy Riemersma (Westfield ONE Church) at Wesleyan HQ in the afternoon to prep for the organizing session this Friday, June 20, that will enable ONE Church to become officially established. My last stop of the day was at Autumn Hills Church in Pendleton where Rev. Jerome Bell and his team were hosting another Art Camp. This has been a key outreach for this new church and over half of the children last week were new attenders.
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Thursday morning, I started in Marion with an interview of a military chaplain candidate then made my way to Greenfield for coaching conversations. I met first with Rev. Ben Wade (the incoming pastor) and then with Dr. Theo Griffin (the outgoing pastor) who have served well together at Brown’s Chapel Wesleyan Church. My last stop of the day was with Rev. Mike Weller who leads Restoration Church in Anderson. Restoration Church continues to provide daily meals for 50-70 homeless people in addition to their weekly worship gatherings.
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We continue to celebrate the way that God is moving and changing lives across our district. Rev. Skyler Norton, the newest member of our district team serving as assistant pastor at Sheridan Six Points Wesleyan Church, had the privilege of baptizing a new believer last Sunday!
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​The Wesleyan Church is hosting regional youth events this fall with the closest one coming to Grand Rapids on Friday and Saturday, October 24-25. Our own Andy Riemersma is one of the featured artists. For more information, here’s the link: wesleyan.org/empoweredtour2025
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We’ll be seeing many of you soon!

• June 27 – Crossroads District Ordination
• June 28 – Crossroads District Conference

​Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity!

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

​Crossroads District Superintendent

Sunday morning, Rev. Nathan Richardson and the team at Southview Wesleyan Church in Indianapolis welcomed me to bring greetings from our Crossroads District team and to share the morning message. I appreciated the warm welcome and was encouraged to hear about the new partnership that the church has initiated to serve as an emergency shelter for the area Red Cross.
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Sunday afternoon, Pastor Matthew Trexler convened the Local Church Conference of The River Church in Marion. Special guest Dr. Chris Williams shared the story of how God has been working at Lakeview Wesleyan Church to bring them to the decision point next Sunday of moving into full partnership with The River. The LCC approved the recommendation of the LBA, pending the vote of Lakeview Church this coming Sunday, that The River Church would accept responsibility for carrying on the legacy of Lakeview Church. The present day ministries of Lakeview and The River are both extensions of the vision of Rev. Gene Cockrell when he planted Lakeview to reach Grant County for Christ.
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Sunday evening, General Superintendent Dr. Wayne Schmidt and friends led an online prayer gathering on Pentecost for The Wesleyan Church. There are wonderful stirrings of revival across the world and we’re praying that God will work powerfully in and through our churches.
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Coaching conversations last week included Rev. Barry Dixon (Calvary Family Church, Indianapolis), Rev. Aaron Lee (Cultivate Church, LaOtto), and Rev. Dan Fisher (Delphi Wesleyan Church). If you’ve heard me say it once, you’ve probably heard me say it a dozen times, but I was reminded again this week that it really does take all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. I’m grateful for each of these faithful pastors leading their churches to impact their communities for Christ!

Wednesday evening, the Local Church Conference at Lakeview Church reconvened for a presentation of the LBA proposal and a two-hour opportunity for questions and answers. There will be another Q&A session on Saturday morning, June 14, for those who were unable to attend this past week. Join us in praying that God will make His will known and be glorified in all of these conversations.
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Saturday, members of the LBA at Kokomo Southdowns Wesleyan Church joined me online for a meeting. Dr. Mark Rennaker has been serving this congregation since 1993. More recently, Dr. Rennaker has carried this responsibility while also teaching at Indiana Wesleyan University and serving as chair of the Division of Leadership and Followership Studies.
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We love to share the stories of baptisms from across our district team. Pastor Rob Tippey and New Journey Community Church celebrated three new believers being baptized. God is on the move!
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Dr. Chris Williams and Lakeview Church celebrated two new believers being baptized and one reaffirmation of baptism. Praise God for lives being #MadeNew!
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Pastor Trexler and The River Church also celebrated God at work with 15 professions of faith and 23 baptisms. Praise the Lord!
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Rev. Rick Carder moved into the lead pastor role at Lancaster Wesleyan Church today. He and Cindy have been serving with Pastor Ron Forsythe. When Pastor Ron announced his retirement, the LBA reached out to Rev. Carder about leading LWC into the future. We’re grateful for this positive transition and I look forward to being with them on Sunday evening, June 22, for the official pastoral installation.
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Rev. Ty Combs, youth pastor at Trinity Wesleyan Church in Indianapolis, will be the camp evangelist for the new Middle School Camp offered at Fairmount Camp this week. Last year’s youth camp was at full capacity so the Fairmount Camp leaders took a step of faith to launch separate camps this year for middle school and senior high youth. Pray for God’s working in these young lives!
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NTS Camp is another positive opportunity serving the students of Crossroads District churches. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the launch of Never The Same Camp under the leadership of Clint Dupin and Geoff Eckart, two youth pastors from Michigan. 25 years later and thousands of teenagers impacted for eternity. Praise God and pray for this week’s camp!
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The calendar for the fall is filling up fast. We are planning three ReEquip Saturdays on September 27, October 25, and November 22. There will be workshops for staff and volunteers who work with children and youth, worship leaders, church treasurers, small group leaders, and pastors. One of the breakouts will be focused on the ethical and practical uses of AI technology.

IWU announced that they will be hosting the Wesleyan Holiness Connection for a Pastors & Church Leaders Day on Tuesday, September 23. Here’s the link for full detail:
​https://advancement.indwes.edu/register/PCL2025
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​SAVE THE DATES:

• June 27 – Crossroads District Ordination
• June 28 – Crossroads District Conference

​Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity!

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

​Crossroads District Superintendent

​P.S. Save the date and make plans to join Wesleyan pastors and their spouses from across North America at The Gathering, January 5-8, 2028 in Orlando, Florida.

Sunday morning, June 1, Pastor Jacob Gibson and his team gathered both their north and south campus families together for a morning of celebration. They combined worship, communion, local church conference, and vision casting into one big event followed by an all-church picnic!

Pastor Gibson invited me to lead in communion, chair the Local Church Conference portion of the service and bring greetings from our district. LifeSpring holds a special place in our movement as the first Wesleyan church in Indiana. It’s also a special place for me with childhood memories from when my father pastored here in the 1960s. They had another strong year of ministry with 111 professions of faith, 52 baptisms and over 1700 for Easter!
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Sunday afternoon, I met with Pastor Jerry Alexander and the LBA at Living Hope Church in Anderson before heading over to Frankfort Camp. Phil and Rhonda Foley continue to do an outstanding job leading Frankfort Camp in this new chapter of its 120+ year history. They hosted the Guardian Quartet for a gospel concert last night to kick-off to their camping season. Several of our district pastors generously help with the Family Camp program (July 13-20).
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Last Monday, Sherry and I were able to spend time with our Michigan family for Memorial Day. We’ve welcomed two new grandchildren there in the past four weeks and it was so much fun to enjoy these blessings along with their big sisters! (For those keeping score, that’s 7 grandchildren.)
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After a scheduled medical procedure on Tuesday, it was good to be back on the road Wednesday. My day started off with Dr. Jeff Clark (IWU coach and author) to hear how God continues to bless “Praying on Offense.” https://a.co/d/3ohMQvl
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The team helping with our Lilly research grant met with the Catapult Consulting Group via Zoom on Wednesday morning as part of the design phase for our assessment. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, Michael Wood and I met on Zoom with Kristy Shotwell from the Gloo Network about using their “The State of Your Church” church health assessments in our churches and collectively. We’ll have some exciting news about this at District Conference.

​Wednesday evening, I joined Pastor Nicholas Hect and the team at Tipton Trinity Wesleyan Church. Pastor Nicholas took several Wednesday evenings for an all-church study on building a Christian worldview. He followed his presentation with an energizing time of Q&A.
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Tipton Trinity also had a baptism celebration on Sunday, June 1, with six new believers publicly professing their faith in Jesus Christ. Praise God for changed lives!
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Thursday morning, I met with Dr. Ed Love, Executive Director of Church Multiplication and Discipleship for The Wesleyan Church. It’s always encouraging to hear how God is at work in new churches being planted across our denomination. My next stop was in Indianapolis with Rev. Ervin Webster, pastor of St. Stephen Church in Warren Park. I’m grateful for Pastor Ervin and Karen as they faithfully serve this inner-city congregation. My last stop Thursday was with a minister in Muncie who is exploring taking steps to transfer into The Wesleyan Church

Saturday, I was able to attend the visitation and celebration of life service for Dr. Joe Sawyer at Trinity Wesleyan Church in Indianapolis. Rev. Gary Sawyer, Joe’s son, led the joy-filled service that honored Joe’s life of Kingdom ministry. It was encouraging to hear the stories of so many who were impacted by Dr. Sawyer’s life and legacy. Please continue to remember Mrs. Lois Sawyer in your prayers.
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Rev. Tony Bye and Rev. Alexander Henry, grandson, conducted the funeral service for Mr. Delbert Surfus at Brookhaven Wesleyan Church in Marion. I was able to extend our district sympathies to Rev. Michele Henry, Delbert’s daughter and a member of our DBA. Del was a faithful layman and beloved member of the Brookhaven congregation.

My last stop on Saturday was in Elkhart for my annual coaching conversation with Pastor Jose Cardenas who leads the ministry of Cielos Albiertos, our Hispanic congregation. These are uncertain times for their members, many of whom are refugees from Venezuela. Pray that God will grant wisdom as Pastor Cardenas ministers faithfully.
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We celebrate every baptism but some are uniquely significant. Pastor Noah Farmer, assisted by Rev. Mark Atkinson, held a special baptism midweek for a gentleman with whom they have been sharing the Gospel for months. He recently prayed to receive Christ and though his body is ravaged by cancer he wanted to be baptized by immersion. Noah and Mark lifted him in and out of the water as he publicly professed the new life he has found in Jesus. #MadeNew!
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The calendar for the fall is filling up fast. We are planning three ReEquip Saturdays on September 27, October 25, and November 22. There will be workshops for children’s and youth ministry leaders, worship leaders, church treasurers, small group leaders, and pastors. One of the breakouts will be focused on the ethical and practical uses of AI technology.

IWU announced that they will be hosting the Wesleyan Holiness Connection for a Pastors & Church Leaders Day on Tuesday, September 23. Hold the date and stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
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​SAVE THE DATES:

• June 27 – Crossroads District Ordination
• June 28 – Crossroads District Conference

Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity!

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

​Crossroads District Superintendent