Sunday morning, December 19, I had the privilege of bringing greetings and worshiping with Rev. Johnnie Blair and Rev. Amanda Blair at Tipton Trinity Wesleyan Church. Tipton Trinity has prevailed through the pandemic with new families joining and new believers being baptized this past year. In addition to her pastoral responsibilities, Rev. Amanda Blair is a member of our Crossroads District Board of Administration. She also has a powerful ministry as a worship leader. Michael (Woody) Wood, our district administrator, is also part of the staff at Trinity so it was good to catch up with Michael and Melissa as they count down just five more weeks until the due date for their first child.
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Last week’s schedule included coaching conversations on Tuesday with Rev. Mark Atkinson and Rev. Noah Farmer (Gas City Eastview). Wednesday’s coaching conversations included Rev. Ethan Linder, Rev. Beau Hamner, and Pastor Jordan Rife (all at College Wesleyan Church). Thursday, I was on the road connecting with pastors and distributing Christmas blankets to Rev. Brad LeRoy (Greenfield Harvest), Dr. Joe Harmon (New Castle Memorial), Pastor Steve Arnett (New Castle Mt. Zion), Rev. Ron Ferguson (Grant City), Dr. Steve Bray’s staff (Richmond LifeSpring Church), Rev. Tim Becker (Elwood Main Street), Rev. Duane Seitz (Silver Lake), Rev. Brian Williams (Sweetser), Rev. Bob McHenry (Marion Nelson Street), and Rev. Ben Parker (Fairmount Back Creek). It was great to connect with these pastors and pray together for this season of high ministry impact.
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I enjoyed connecting with Pastor Sam Maddox and members of the Albion Wesleyan Church local board of administration on Monday evening. The church is making good progress under Pastor Sam’s leadership. On Tuesday evening, I met with Pastor Dan VanCise and the LBA at Marion West 8th Street for their very positive extended call review.

Nothing is more exciting than rejoicing with our churches who are celebrating lives being #MadeNew by the Gospel! On Sunday morning, December 19, Pastor Mark Atkinson and the team at Gas City Eastview Wesleyan Church celebrated two baptisms. Praise the Lord!
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Dr. David Wright announced his plan to retire at the end of the 2021-2022 school year. For the full announcement, here’s the link: https://www.indwes.edu/news/2021/12/indiana-wesleyan-university-president-dr.-david-wright-announces-retirement

​Dr. Wright has provided exemplary leadership in every phase of his career, both as an ordained minister and as a Christian educator. We pray that God will continue to bless David and Helen as they enter this new season of life and ministry.
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Fairmount Camp announced adjusted dates for their 2022 summer ministries. The teen camp will now be June 12-17, children’s camp will be July 5-9, and family camp is set for July 17-24. For the most up-to-date information, you can visit their website:
https://www.fairmountcamp.org

Congratulations to Mrs. Kassidy Bye, wife of Rev. Seth Bye (our Crossroads District COO), on her graduation from the transition to nursing degree program at Indiana Wesleyan University this past weekend. This is a significant step for the Bye family as they prepare to relocate to Avon to lead the restart project known as 317Church.
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Like many of you, Sherry and I are hosting family during this Christmas season. We were blessed to have Sherry’s brother Kerry bring his four children, his daughter-in-law, and his first granddaughter coming all the way from Louisiana to spend time with us this weekend. Our four children, three spouses, and Lennon Joy, our first granddaughter, joined us on Sunday afternoon, so we’ve been making some special memories at our house.

May you and your loved ones have a blessed week celebrating Christ’s birth and preparing your hearts for His soon return!

​Your servant in Christ,
​
Mark Gorveatte

​Crossroads District Superintendent

P.S. Our office will be closed for the Christmas week break reopening on January 3, but lead pastors can always reach me on my direct line or by text. The next Team Update will be released on January 3.

Sunday morning, December 12, I had the privilege of joining Pastor Mark Atkinson and his team at Eastview Wesleyan Church and preaching in both of their morning services. The first service meets at their Jonesboro campus at 9 a.m. and the second gathering meets at their Gas City location at 11 a.m.
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Following the morning services, Pastor Mark & Ronda hosted the LBA and staff members for lunch at Taylor University. The LBA had a brief meeting to officially accept four new members and I was able to bring greetings from the district. It was good to connect with their team members in this time of fellowship. They were also hosting a 40th birthday celebration for Assistant Pastor Noah Farmer in the evening. This coming Sunday, they plan to celebrate baptisms between services.
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Last Monday morning, Region 1 pastors and their spouses were hosted by Assistant DS Matthew Trexler and his team at The River for a Christmas brunch. Around 80 of us gathered for delicious food catered by Velvet Haisley and The Branch Coffee in Fairmount. Participants also enjoyed hot chocolate, Christmas caroling, and receiving the special Christmas gift provided by the DBA.
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Monday afternoon, I was in Greenfield to meet with Dr. Mark Eckart, Indiana South District Superintendent for a conversation about church planting partnerships. It’s a joy to serve alongside Dr. Eckart and we’re praying about future opportunities to work together to reach Indiana for Christ.

Tuesday, I was able to connect with Dr. Mark Rennaker, lead pastor at Kokomo Southdowns Wesleyan Church, for our annual coaching conversation. Dr. Rennaker is also full-time with IWU where he is chair of the Department of Leadership Studies (IWU–National and Global). Rev. Ron Hurlocker (assistant at Southdowns) met over lunch for our annual coaching conversation. Rev. Tim Witte (assistant pastor at College Wesleyan) and I met in his office for our conversation.

Sherry and I closed out Tuesday hosting our district office staff for a Christmas supper at Payne’s in Gas City. I’ve been blessed with a great team and it was good to spend time together with them and their spouses to express appreciation for all that they do to serve our district pastors and churches.

Wednesday afternoon, I traveled to Frankfort to meet with Pastor Alan Downing at Connecting Point Church. It was good to catch up with Pastor Downing and to hear how his recovery has been progressing after surgery earlier this fall. The official purpose of our meeting was to review the LBA feedback in preparation for his extended call review. The LBA joined us at 6:30 for a very positive meeting and the unanimous affirmation of Rev. Downing’s extended call to serve the church.
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Thursday morning, I was in Plymouth to meet with Rev. Rich Van Vuren, pastor of Shiloh Wesleyan Church, for our coaching conversation. My final appointment of the day was at HQ in Fishers to meet with Rev. Craig Thurmon, our district treasurer, as we completed an assignment from the DBA.

Friday, I joined Rev. Mike Hewitt (Rising Hope Church) for lunch in Muncie. It was exciting to hear how God continues to open doors of evangelism for Mike and his team of pool trick-shot artists. Mike had just returned from a week of ministry in Spain and had some amazing stories to tell of God’s provision. I’m also grateful for Mike’s willingness to serve as church planting champion in our district. He’s putting together a plan to deepen the connection among our district’s network of church planters.

We’re always excited to pass along stories of God at work in changing lives. This baptism picture is from Dr. Jim Lo who sensed a burden last week to share the plan of salvation with his students. Several prayed to receive Christ and this young woman was ready to take the next step of obedience and be baptized! Praise God for lives being #MadeNew!
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FUEL Conference is coming to Muncie on February 3-4! To encourage our Next-Gen leaders to invest in their personal & ministry development by attending, a full registration scholarship ($79 value) is being offered to up to 20 of our full-time district Next-Gen leaders. To claim your scholarship, please fill out this form by December 27th. For questions, email District Youth President Jessica Folz at [email protected]. For more info on FUEL, visit:
www.wesleyan.org/fuel

​There is still time to register for the Heartland Gathering on March 22-24, 2022 in Pigeon Forge, TN. Every local church received a scholarship for one pastoral couple to register and that amount can also be applied toward the THRIVE initiative. For the speaker lineup and more detailed information, please visit: https://gathering.heartlandregion.org
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May God richly bless you and your church team as you reach out to your community during these days of opportunity leading up to Christmas!​
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​Your servant in Christ,
​
Mark Gorveatte

​Crossroads District Superintendent

P.S. Our office will be closed for the Christmas week break, but lead pastors can always reach me by text or calling my cellphone. May you and your loved ones have a blessed time celebrating Christ’s first appearing and preparing your hearts for His soon return!

Sunday morning, Sherry and I joined with Pastor Tim Becker and the team at Elwood Main Street for worship. Many of you will know that Pastor Tim’s father passed away on Thanksgiving Day and the funeral service was this past Wednesday. I was grateful for the opportunity to represent the district and support the Becker family. Our sympathies and prayers are extended to Mrs. Mary Becker, Ron’s widow, and the Becker family in these difficult days.
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Sunday afternoon, I was in Roanoke at ARISE Church to video an interview for their upcoming new members class. Things are going well at ARISE with first-time and returning guests each month this fall. Pastor Aldean Pablo’s father passed away in the Philippines over Thanksgiving. Pastor Aldean and his sister will be traveling home in March for one of several memorial services for his father. Pastor Aldean was excited to share that he and Jessie have purchased their new home in Roanoke!
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​Monday’s appointments included a lunch meeting with Dr. Jim Lo on our prayer initiative called Second Sundays at Six. Monday evening, I conducted the extended call review for Dr. Morris Jones with the LBA at Lebanon Wesleyan Church.

Tuesday, I met with Assistant Pastor Ben Wade (Greenfield Browns’ Chapel) for our annual coaching conversation. Tuesday afternoon, our district office staff met with final preparations for the DBA meeting.

Wednesday included a lunch meeting with Angela Spangler, Executive Director of Fairmount Camping Ministries before heading to Elwood for Rev. Ron Becker’s funeral.

Our Crossroads District Board of Administration convened at Lakeview Wesleyan Church in Marion on Thursday afternoon for our quarterly meeting. Mrs. Randy Griffin, lay representative from Greenfield Browns’ Chapel, opened our meeting with a devotional and prayer. We had a full agenda including a guest presentation from Rev. C. K. Chitty, who has joined our team as district seniors’ ministry director. It was encouraging to hear praise reports from the churches represented by our board members. We focused prayer on the January launch of ONE Church in Westfield under the leadership of Rev. Andy Riemersma.
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We appreciate the strong USF support we’re experiencing with 95% received of the assessment due to date. Letters of thanks along with a report are being sent to every pastor and treasurer so they can check to ensure the accuracy of our records. Following the meeting, several of the spouses of our board members were able to join us for our Christmas supper. I am grateful for these leaders, staff team, and board members who serve our district team so well!

Saturday evening, Dr. Chris and Marietta Williams welcomed our Region 3 pastors and spouses to a Christmas fellowship dinner. Dr. Ollie Dongell and the team at Plymouth Wesleyan Church hosted our event with a good representation from across the region. Our favorite guest was our newest member of the district pastoral family, Violet Jones!
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One of the most important opportunities that we share as a district is the preparation process that serves our students who are answering God’s call to pastoral ministry. Region 1 DBMD Chair Bob Burchell led the interview team than met and prayed with five pastoral candidates on Saturday. Thank you to the DBMD committee members who make this ministry a high priority in their time and prayers.
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We’re praising the Lord with Dr. Ollie Dongell and the team at Plymouth Wesleyan Church. Just last Sunday, they celebrated nine more baptisms! What an exciting day in the life of these nine new believers and this church family!
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Thank you for partnering together in the Harvest! Praying for the 3 million people yet to be reached in Indiana!
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​Your servant in Christ,
​
Mark Gorveatte
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Crossroads District Superintendent