 Friday night, February 21, 475 teenagers along with their pastors and/or sponsors, gathered at Pine Hills Church for our annual Crossroads District All-Nighter. Churches large and small were represented with groups coming from as far away as Anderson, Bryant, and Chesterton. Rev. Andrew Kinney (Marion Chapel Pike) brought the largest contingent with 76 attending, including guests from other churches that joined his team.  Rev. Aldean Pablo serves as our Crossroads District Champion for Student Ministries while he also leads ARISE Church in Roanoke, one of our newest congregations. Rev. Andy Jellison (on the right) served as a youth pastor for several years and now leads Lifeway Church in Fort Wayne. The keynote speaker for the evening rally was Rev. Andy Riemersma, church planter/pastor at Westfield ONE Church. It was great to see these lead pastors still investing in student ministry.  Pastor Andy is an anointed communicator of the Gospel through both preaching and music. Praise the Lord that more than 50 students made new or renewed commitments to follow Christ. At least five of those indicated a call to pastoral ministry. Thank you to the leadership team members and the incredible adults who volunteered for this night of spiritual impact!  Sunday, February 23, I was on the road for drop-in visits. The first stop was at Fairmount Wesleyan Church where I worshiped with Rev. Jeff Luedtke and Rev. Dr. Amy Luedtke. I was encouraged by the number of college and high school students in the room. Pastor Jeff noted that IWU students were investing in the youth ministry and took 19 teenagers to the all-nighter, 5 of whom made fresh commitments to Christ.  My next stop was at The River Church in Marion for their NOW Generation weekend. Pastor Matthew Trexler and his team had their junior and senior high school students serving in every capacity in the church from greetings, ushering, worship team, reading scripture, making the announcements, sharing in the sermon, and teaching in the children’s ministry. My last stop of the day was with Pastor Brent Miller and the team at Southside Wesleyan Church in Gas City. Pastor Brent and his team hosted a Night of Worship. While this was a multi-generational service, the worship team members were nearly all under 30 years old. One notable exception was Rev. Tom Holloway. Tom pastors in South Carolina but drove up this weekend to join Southside’s worship leader Taylor, his daughter, in leading this worship event.  Last week’s schedule included coaching conversations through the day and meetings in the evenings. On Monday night, I began with the Indianapolis Trinity Church LBA (local board of administration) for Pastor Michael Colaw’s quadrennial review. We also celebrated the completion of Rev. Yamil Acevedo’s transfer of ordination from the Christian Missionary Alliance. Rev. Dr. Acevedo leads Wesley Seminary and his family is actively involved at Trinity.  The LBA at Brown’s Chapel in Greenfield welcomed me to join their meeting to discuss their pastoral search process. We continue to pray with Dr. Theo and Randy Griffin as they seek the Lord’s guidance for their next assignment. We’re also praying for wisdom as the church looks to the future.  Tuesday evening, I met with the leadership team at East Liberty Church just north of Decatur. Rev. Dennis Croy has been serving as their supply/interim pastor since the church came to us from their former denominational affiliation. The team voted unanimously to recommend Rev. Croy to the members for an official call.  Thursday evening, Pastor Michael Hewitt and his team welcomed me to join their staff meeting. They are working on team building through Clifton StrengthsFinder and invited me to share team insights from my coaching certification. The DBA invested in my training so that we can offer this free of charge to any of our churches. Just let us know if you’d like to take advantage of this resource. The Crossroads District chaplains gathered in Marion on Saturday for a time of fellowship and planning. With a growing number of our ministers serving in chaplaincy roles across a variety of settings from hospitals to law enforcement, this group continues to expand its impact in our communities.  They are working on a seminar for next fall that will introduce chaplaincy opportunities to ministry students at IWU and to pastors interested in serving their community in these roles. Bob Burchell, lead chaplain for online students at IWU, leads this team. If you’d like more information, reach out to the district office and we can help make that connection. Nothing matters more than lives transformed for eternity by the power of the Gospel! Pastor Joshua Fox and the team at Hartford City Wesleyan Church celebrated two baptisms yesterday. Dr. Ed and Emily Love attend HCWC and had the privilege of baptizing their son Micah in the morning service.  Waterline Church continues to experience growth in its new location with 154 worshiping together yesterday, That’s their second largest attendance since their grand opening. Pastor Scott Rhyno passed along the good news of four more baptisms yesterday!  Pastor Michael Hewitt passed along the good report that Rising Hope Church celebrated three more baptisms yesterday morning. Praise the Lord for lives being #MadeNew!  Pastor Andy Jellison and the team at Lifeway Church are experiencing an exciting season of growth and impact. Worship attendance is averaging 30-40% over the same Sundays last year. They are also rejoicing in changed lives with three more baptisms yesterday!  Another great way to grow your church is with growing families. Congratulations to Rev. Ryan and Rachel Budde as they welcomed Judah, the newest member of Westview Wesleyan Church and their first grandchild!  If you had a great time with your students at the Crossroads District All-Nighter (or if you missed that opportunity) you still have time 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/  Krista Brown, Executive Director of Fairmount Camp, has opened registration for summer youth camps. This year, Fairmount Camp is excited to be able to offer separate middle school and high school camps. For more information or to register, check out their website: https://www.fairmountcamp.org/teen-camp.html  Register by March 1 to save $25 per person! Yes, there are still a few slots available for the Branson tour. Rev. CK Chitty, Senior Adult Ministries Director, invites all senior adults (55+) to this year’s trip to Branson, May 13-16, 2025! Enjoy great fellowship, top-tier entertainment, delicious food, and deluxe accommodations—including a scenic dinner cruise and all the classic Branson attractions. Help spread the word to the senior adults in your church. More details and registration are available at this link: https://crossroadsdistrict.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/2680279 Thank you all for making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent Comments are closed.
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