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Yesterday morning, I worshiped at Lapel Daybreak Church with Pastor Richard and Debbie Cole. Richard is completing his 19th year of ministry at Daybreak and I appreciate his heart for evangelism. Following the service, I met with Pastor Cole and the LBA for a planning session as they move toward their 20th anniversary in September.  I had another enjoyable week of connecting with our lead pastors in coaching conversations. Doug Sharrard (Lancaster), Jere Gowin (Kingsford Heights), Josh Keesling (Browns Chapel), Brad LeRoy (Harvest), Dan Heylmann (Grant City), Hal Rodgers (Knightstown), Carol Longnecker (Bakers Corner), Bill Thompson (Anderson Lone Oak), Ed Purciful (Anderson North), Kyle Horton (Three Rivers), Randy Yaryan (Winchester), Keith Jones (Crawfordsville), Joe Park (Lafayette Evergreen), and Rick Patterson (Colfax) all took time to sit down and bring me up to date on their ministry. I am encouraged by how many of our pastors have at least one unchurched or nonbeliever with whom they’re building a relationship. I am surprised that not more of our pastors have an intentional process of discipling or developing leaders.  That’s one of the themes we’ll be spotlighting at this year’s district conference. Reaching 3 million won’t be accomplished by mass media or city-wide crusades. These large-scale approaches can be helpful (see Acts 2) but the normal pattern of the Kingdom advancing is by one heart at a time, one leader at a time, one zip code at a time. You’ll be encouraged at conference by the Kingdom story that Alex Sicilia and his team are living out in Mexico City. Last Monday evening I was in Monon to meet with the LBA as they reviewed and unanimously extended their call to Pastor Steve Sparks. Wednesday morning, I had the privilege of leading our denominational headquarters staff in worship at their monthly chapel service. Dr. Wayne Schmidt, our General Superintendent, was in town briefly between a busy travel season of district conferences. It is also good to hear his passion for the lost and the focused vision that he is bringing to The Wesleyan Church.  Thursday evening, I chaired a follow-up meeting of our nominating committee as we prepare for District Conference. I invite you to check out the information available at the district conference webpage: http://conference.crossroadsdistrict.org/ You’ll also find the conference agenda here: http://conference.crossroadsdistrict.org/schedule.html On Friday, Rev. Chris Williams e-mailed the conference agenda, the conference action committee report and the nominating committee report to each pastor and they will be sharing that information with their respective delegates. If you’ve not received a copy, please contact our office.  Crossroads District, much like a larger church, has a variety of programming options. When it comes to teen camping, we have churches participating in Fairmount (iamfairmount.com), Frankfort (Frankfort Camp Schedule), Never the Same Camps (NTS Camps), and Camp United at Hanging Rock. None of these camps would hold all of our teams at once so these partnership are important to provide a range of price points, dates, and a variety of camping experiences, from high tech to rustic. Wherever our students gather this summer, let’s join in prayer that God will meet with them as He has done so faithfully through the years. Prayer requests this week include: Pastor Jere Gowin who was hospitalized and had surgery over the weekend. He anticipates being released home on Tuesday. Special thanks to Rev. Don Bayne (Jere’s zone leader) and Dr. Jim Lo (our district prayer champion) for their ministry to Jere and his family. Pastor Lloyd Moore was taken to the hospital for a possible liver transplant last week but released after it was determined he was not a match. Lloyd and Rhonda deeply appreciate your prayers for this journey. Rev. Steve Arnett’s mother was diagnosed with leukemia last week and the prognosis is not good. Please keep Steve and his mother in your prayers. Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Thought for the week: “It is not how much we have but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.” Charles Spurgeon Comments are closed.
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