Crossroads District Easter 2023 (Part One)!

Every Sunday is an opportunity to celebrate our Risen Lord but there is something special about the focused celebration when we have moved through the 40 days of Lent concluding with Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday – Resurrection Day!

Thank you to every pastor and more than 2000 volunteers in the Crossroads District who invested time, energy, and most importantly, prayers for this annual opportunity to boldly proclaim the Good News of Christ’s victorious death and triumphant resurrection.

Here are some of the reports that have already come in to our district office:
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Rev. Michael Hewitt and the team at Rising Hope in Muncie celebrated as an entire family was baptized together. And they were delighted when a young man gave his life to Christ at their Good Friday service after he walked through the stations of the cross. Five more people responded to the Gospel on Sunday morning!

Rev. Scott Rhyno and the team at Waterline Church (meeting at Wesleyan HQ) welcomed 135 in worship with five people publicly professing faith in Christ through baptism and several others indicating their response to the invitation to follow Jesus!
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Rev. Matthew Trexler and the team at The River Church in Marion welcomed more than 2000 in worship for the first time with 226 people responding in writing to the invitation to follow Jesus. Children’s church attendance alone was 416!

Dr. Aaron Perry, interim pastor, and the team at LifeSpring Church celebrated 25 baptisms yesterday between their north and south campuses. The south campus welcomed 473 in attendance (a new record for that location). The LifeSpring Church family also celebrated the announcement of the Local Board of Administration that Rev. Jacob Gibson is being recommended as their new lead pastor. Dr. Perry has been a blessing to the church in this season of transition while continuing to teach for Wesley Seminary.
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Rev. Ryan Budde and the team at Jonesboro Westview welcomed 271 for worship and baptized 7 new believers with two more baptisms candidates signing up for next time!

Rev. Allen Gross and the team at Cicero United Family Church may have set a record on Sunday for the highest rate of baptisms to worship attendance. Last year, United Family averaged 45 in attendance. On Easter Sunday, Pastor Allen had the privilege of baptizing 11 individuals who publicly professed their faith in our Risen King!
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Rev. Noah Farmer and the team at Gas City Eastview reported 356 in attendance and 19 decisions for Christ!

Dr. Chris Williams and the team at Marion Lakeview celebrated Easter with 372 people present, a recent high attendance, 7 professions of faith in Christ, and another public profession of faith through baptism!

Dr. Steve DeNeff and the team at Marion College Wesleyan Church celebrated seven more baptisms on Sunday as they concluded their Holy Week services!

Rev. Mike Henry and the team at Fort Wayne Level 13 are rejoicing with rebounding worship attendance and another baptism on Easter Sunday!
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Rev. Zach Working and the team at Huntington Hope Rising welcomed over 240 in worship attendance. They had to use their youth center to handle the attendance overflow. Best of all, the celebrated 7 decisions for Christ!

Rev. Rob Tippey and the team at Wabash New Journey Church welcomed over 300 for worship with 9 decisions for Christ and another baptism!

Rev. Dan Fisher and the team at Delphi Wesleyan Church are rejoicing with two more decisions for Christ yesterday!

Rev. David Shafer and the team at North Anderson Wesleyan Church hosted the Madison County Wesleyan Churches in a wonderful combined Good Friday service. This is the second year that our Madison County churches have collaborated for this special occasion. On Easter Sunday morning, Pastor Shafer and their team celebrated
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Harvest Church in Greenfield celebrated another baptism on Easter Sunday morning. Rev. Wayne Richards has been graciously serving the church as interim pastor. Please continue to remember Rev. Brad LeRoy, founding pastor of Harvest, in your prayers as he continues to address serious health concerns.
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Rev. Jim Weinmann and the team at Indianapolis Evanston Avenue Wesleyan celebrated another baptism on Easter Sunday! In addition to pastoring, Rev. Weinmann also serves our pastors through his leadership in the Wesleyan Pension Fund.
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Rev. Scott McDermid and the team at Sheridan Six Points Church hosted the community Easter egg hunt on their campus on Saturday and then welcomed 250+ for worship on Sunday. They also celebrated the baptism of another young man who came to Christ!
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District superintendents are, understandably, not often invited as guest speakers on Easter Sunday so Sherry and I took the opportunity to spend time with our family in Michigan celebrating the arrival of Thea Rose, our newest granddaughter. Thea Rose was born on Palm Sunday, April 2, to Christie and Joel, our youngest son. The family also surprised me with a Saturday afternoon birthday party for Grandpa G. I couldn’t ask for a better gift!
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Early Sunday morning, we worshiped with John, our oldest son, and his family at Center Church where he serves as campus pastor in Grand Rapids. Then we joined Joel for the 11 a.m. service at the Journey Church campus in Middleville, where he serves as assistant pastor with Pastor Jon Allen. Our family helped Pastor Jon and Erica Allen plant Journey Church back in 2016 so it was fun to reconnect with friends ad members of the original launch team.

​Keep those praise reports coming in and stay tuned for a midweek edition of the Crossroads District Team Update!

God is on the move!

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

Crossroads District Superintendent