Grant City, Remodeling, and Another Baptism

Sunday morning, February 9, I joined Pastor Dan and Shannon Heylmann for worship at Grant City Wesleyan Church. Dan is another of our faithful bi-vocational pastors who has been commuting from Indianapolis. Last month, Pastor Dan had announced his resignation (to take effect this summer) with plans coming together to continue his studies onsite at Dallas Theological Seminary in the fall. After the morning service, I had an opportunity to connect with members of the leadership team as they begin the search process for their next pastor.
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Sunday afternoon, I joined Pastor Paul VanCise and the Local Board of Administration (LBA) at Bryant Wesleyan Church. Pastor Paul has been serving at Bryant since 2003. The LBA was very encouraging in their pre-vote review and I was glad to join them in affirming the wonderful progress made under Pastor Paul’s leadership.

Tuesday, I was in Marion for the IWU class and our office staff meeting before connecting with Rev. Darrel Herring, supply pastor at Indianapolis Central Wesleyan, in Westfield for our annual coaching conversation. My final meeting of the day was with Rev. Don Glenn and the LBA at Marion Nelson Street Wesleyan on Tuesday evening.
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Wednesday morning, I was at the IWU chapel service as Dr. Jim and Roxene Lo renewed their wedding vows. Dr. Lo preached a powerful message on keeping Christ at the center of your marriage. Dr. David Vardaman and I led the renewal of vows for Dr. & Mrs. Lo.

I met with Pastor Don Glenn to review the LBA meeting of the previous evening at Nelson Street. My last meeting of the day was with Dr. Judy Crossman. It was encouraging to hear Pastor Judy’s testimony of God’s calling and leading in her life.

Thursday, I met with Pastor Ben Parker (Fairmount Back Creek Wesleyan) for our annual coaching conversation. Pastor Ben made a commitment to use FaceBook to provide a live devotional for his congregation every morning and is receiving positive feedback. I was able to take in the Exponential webinar Thursday afternoon before heading to Fort Wayne to meet with Pastor Heath Croft and the leadership team at Level 13 Church.

I participated in a General Conference memorial subcommittee chaired by Carl Shepherd at HQ on Friday. This team is doing the spadework on a series of recommendations that will be brought back to the General Board meeting in March.
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Friday evening, Region 2 Assistant DS Mike and Leslie Colaw joined Sherry and me to host the Region 2 East Zone pastors and spouses fellowship. An icy driveway resulted in us relocating to the BBQ restaurant in Daleville. These are always great times together.

Pastor Steve Binn reached out with terrific “before and after” pictures from their foyer renovation project. Like many of our church buildings, Lone Oak Wesleyan had a very narrow hall foyer and hallway leading to their sanctuary. There was no space to welcome guests or for congregation members to connect before and after worship. The construction crew did a great job completing this project in just one week. Congratulations to the Lone Oak team on this exciting step to “get ready for company!”
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Pastor John Hannan, planting the CrossRoads Church in Union City, checked in Sunday evening with news that they had four new families as guests for their launch team meeting and celebrated another baptism. Here’s a picture of Pastor John with the three folks who’ve been baptized in the last two weeks. Thank you for keeping this church planting project in your prayers.
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Just a reminder that today, February 10, is the last date to register for the Heartland Gathering. Please join us in praying that God anoints our time together in Pigeon Forge. Click here to register.

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

Crossroads District Superintendent