 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  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.  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.  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!  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!  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.  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!  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!  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  P.S.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  Comments are closed.
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