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Sunday, June 22, was a beautiful day for visiting Crossroads District congregations. I was headed to Larwill but left early enough to briefly stop and say hello to Pastor Scotty Murphy and his Sunday School class at Mt. Etna Community Life Church. I arrived early at Larwill and enjoyed catching up with Pastor Thomas and Julie Beck. They’ve made significant improvements to the building in recent years. Rev. Beck has faithfully served this smaller congregation as bi-vocational pastor for 25 years!  Just 30 minutes away from Larwill, Pastor Duane Seitz was concluding his ministry to Silver Lake Wesleyan Church. With the decision to close the church at the same time, there was a strong turnout of friends and supporters for the service and fellowship dinner. They honored Rev. Seitz for more than 60 years of ministry.  Laketon Wesleyan Church is just 10 miles away from Silver Lake so that made it possible for me to join Pastor Duncan Prior and the LBA for part of their monthly meeting. I was able to answer some questions and then toured the modular unit they’ve secured to become their new fellowship hall.  The last stop of the day was with Rev. Rick Carder and the team at Lancaster Wesleyan Church. Pastor Rick was officially installed last evening. He and Cindy are off to a great start with excitement growing around the children’s ministry. Pastor Mark and Ronda Atkinson came for the special occasion and Pastor Mark led the closing prayer. Rev. and Mrs. Sam Maddox also drove down from Albion to show their support and encouragement to the Carders.  Sherry and I enjoyed our time with family in Florida last week but I was excited to return for the organizing Local Church Conference (LCC) at ONE Church in Westfield on Friday night. Pastor Andy and Leanza Riemersma have done a great job launching this new ministry. Organizing as an established church with members and their own Local Board of Administration (LBA) was a big step in their development process. God is changing lives in Westfield through ONE Church!  Saturday morning, I met with Pastor Terry Vaughn in Indianapolis as he prepared to lead our Urban Pastors Network monthly cohort meeting. My next stop was with Rev. Marc Ulrich in Merrillville for an exciting update on the progress of RE.THINK, our newest church in the northwest region. On my way back home, I was able to connect with Andy and Wendy Hammonds who lead the Chesterton campus for The River Church. I’m grateful for risk-taking leaders who launch new ministries to reach the lost! Rev. Scott McDermid (Sheridan Six Points Wesleyan Church) and a team (including his older son) just returned from a short-term missions to El Salvador. Pastor Scott was back in time to celebrate another baptism at Six Points. Praise the Lord for lives being #MadeNew!  Dr. Theo Griffin concluded his ministry at Greenfield Brown's Chapel on a high note this weekend. Sunday was the conclusion of their annual sports camp with 85 children participating. They welcomed families back for a celebration Sunday and picnic. Best of all, the church celebrated a baby dedication and three baptisms. Praise God!  District Conference and Ordination week is finally here! Plan to join us for the Ordination and Celebration of Ministry rally at 6:00pm on Friday evening at Lakeview Wesleyan Church in Marion. Ordained ministers will gather at 5:20pm for our annual group photo. Saturday morning, we’ll gather again at Lakeview for a full day of conference with elections and general conference memorials on the agenda. (Attendance is required for all credentialed ministers, unless excused in writing.) Doors will open for check-in at 8:30am and the first business session will begin at 9:00am. We welcome your prayer support as approximately 400 voting delegates assemble for this important annual meeting. You can find more information here: https://conference.crossroadsdistrict.org/ Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent P.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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