Sunday, February 2, Pastor Alan Downing and the team at Connecting Point Church in Frankfort welcomed me in their morning worship service. Pastor Downing is continuing to regain strength after some health concerns. One of the bright spots in the church is its growing children’s ministry. Yesterday, they had 15 children; double the number from my last visit. Another special focus of their ministry is the investment they make serving families with special needs children. Following the worship service, I met with the members of the LBA (local board of administration) for a brief update on their ministry. Pastor Alan and Teri allowed me to host them for lunch. I am grateful for Pastor Alan’s decade of faithfulness in this challenging ministry assignment. Last week’s schedule included coaching conversations and an interview with a prospective pastor looking to transfer into The Wesleyan Church. On Tuesday evening, I met with the LBA at Chapel Pike Wesleyan Church in Marion. On Wednesday, I joined with more than 70 leaders from across our denomination for a Zoom call hosted by Rev. Zach Szmara and Immigrant Connection. If you are working with immigrants in your congregation, you know these are uncertain times. Please check out the valuable resources available at this website: https://www.icwelcome.org Saturday, I was back on the road for appointments in Indianapolis with Assistant DS Rev. Grace Lopez and then with Pastor Walter Martir (Monte de Sion). On the way to Indy, I stopped at Greentown Wesleyan Church to connect with Pastor Eric Roemer and his team. They hosted the annual “No Regrets” conference for men. It was good to see the positive turnout and I appreciate Pastor Eric’s willingness to host this event each year. Next year’s conference is scheduled for February 1. On a side note, one of the speakers was our own Wesleyan colleague Rev. Dan Seaborn. Back in the day, Danny and I traveled together in a musical ministry team for Southern Wesleyan University. Our prayers and sympathies are extended to the family and many friends of Rev. David Anderson, beloved long-time pastor of LifeSpring Church in Fountain City/Richmond. We received the news that David passed away on January 28 in California after a long battle with ALS. Pastor Dave and Jill served LifeSpring together for 38 years. His memorial service will be held there at LifeSpring Church on Saturday, February 15. For complete details, here’s the link to his obituary: https://www.smithmcquiston.com/obituaries/pastor-david-anderson Pastor Scott McDermid and his team are celebrating another baptism in their Wednesday night service this past week at Six Points Church in Sheridan. Praise God for lives #MadeNew! The River Church celebrated more baptisms yesterday, even with Pastor Trexler out of town. It’s encouraging to see young men and women publicly professing their faith in Christ! Tipton Trinity Wesleyan Church has completed their search process and they are pleased to announce that Rev. Nicholas Hect has accepted their call. Pastor Nick and Tifani currently serve at Fountain Springs Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. Pray as they work through the logistics of arriving in Tipton in time to celebrate Easter with their new church family. Several pastoral transitions are taking place across the district. Rev. Josh Bowlin has submitted his resignation and will be moving on from Marion Chapel Pike Wesleyan Church. Rev. Ron Forsythe has announced his retirement from Lancaster Wesleyan Church and plans to relocate to Marion, where he hopes to continue serving in ministry part-time. Dr. Aaron Perry, who has been serving as interim pastor at Sweetser Wesleyan, has accepted a call to local church ministry and will be moving to Pennsylvania later this spring. Several of you have attended seminars or participated in the 21 Day of Prayer initiative led by Dr. Chris Hodges so you may be interested to know that he announced a big change yesterday. He will step down from being lead pastor at Church of the Highlands to devote 80% of his time to leading Highlands College. Rev. Mark Pettus who has shared the preaching load for the past few years, will be the new lead pastor. https://www.al.com/news/2025/02/founding-pastor-chris-hodges-steps-down-from-alabamas-largest-church.html Youth leaders: mark your calendars and make plans to bring your students to this year’s Crossroads District All-Nighter, February 21, in Fort Wayne. You can find all the information and registration at this link: https://crossroadsdistrict.churchcenter.com/calendar/event/174593782 And it’s not too early to make plans to bring your students to IWU for FUSION, April 4-5. Thank you to Professor Charlie Alcock and his team for creating this opportunity for students to experience the IWU campus and the impact of worshiping with 1500 other high school students from across Indiana. (“Never Too Young,” the middle-school event is scheduled for May 2-3.) https://www.indwes.edu/academics/youth-ministry-events/fusion/ Thank you for making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent P.S. Save the date! The Ordination Service and Celebration of Ministry will be held on Friday evening, June 27. The Crossroads District annual conference will be held on Saturday, June 28. With delegates being elected and memorials being discussed for General Conference 2026, we anticipate a full day of conferencing. Both events will be held in the Marion area. Comments are closed.
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February 2025
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