 Sunday morning, August 24, Brown’s Chapel Wesleyan Church (Greenfield) received Rev. Ben Wade in his new role as senior pastor. I was privileged to represent our Crossroads District team and to lead the liturgy of installation at the close of the service. This was a special occasion for me since Pastor Ben and I first met at Kingswood University when he was a freshman and I was college president. Today marks the first time I’ve had the privilege of installing one of the Kingswood students I served in that capacity as a new pastor for our district team.  Pastor Ben and Kate have served at BCWC for the past few years under the leadership of Dr. Theo Griffin. Dr. Griffin mentored Pastor Ben and helped the church embrace this succession plan. One of the ways that BCWC serves the community is as a refreshment stop of the Hancock County Flat 50 bicycle event. They hosted more than 400 riders on Sunday. We’re believing with Pastor Wade and his team for great days ahead in Greenfield!  Sunday afternoon, I joined with Pastor Joshua Fox and the team at Hartford City Wesleyan Church as they gathered at Lake Placid Camp for their annual church picnic and baptisms. Pastor Fox led the assembly in reciting the Nicene Creed and then four new believers publicly witnessed to their faith in Christ. It was also good to catch up with Dr. Ed Love, Executive Director of Church Multiplication and Discipleship for our denomination. Ed, Emily, and their children are actively involved in serving the Lord at HCWC.  I closed out the day worshiping with Rev. Jerome Bell at Autumn Hills Church in Pendleton. Pastor Jerome and his team have been hosting Sunday evening services since they launched but are in active conversations about adding a second worship opportunity on Sunday mornings. They’ve also made an impact on their community through their Art Camp in the summer followed up with monthly Art Nights. Pray for Pastor Jerome and this new church plant as they lift up Jesus!  Last Monday, I was in Marion for our district staff meeting and was also able to drop in for the lead pastors’ leadership cohort that Pastor Matthew Trexler hosts as The River. This is the second year for half of this group and the third year for others. We’ve seen wonderful encouragement and missional results from these learning experiences. Dr. Chris Williams, Assistant DS, will be hosting a group meeting in the same location at the same time starting next month. They will have separate learning tracks but will then combine for fellowship over lunch. If you’re a lead pastor passionate for learning and growth, these monthly cohorts are designed for you but space it limited. Please reach out directly to Dr. Chris Willams for more information while there are still openings.  Monday afternoon I met with Dr. Williams as our Assistant District Superintendent and then connected with General Superintendent Dr. Wayne Schmidt to inform them of my decision to retire from the role of district superintendent on December 31, 2025. I shared this news with our DBA members by email on Monday evening and then passed along the same information to our credentialed ministers on Tuesday morning. For your convenience, here’s the link to that document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XhLyxb2FQFXoiSuTxMe3VIbao4DETP08/view?usp=sharing I’m deeply grateful to God and to you for the opportunity I’ve had to serve as district superintendent for over 10 years here in Indiana. I am officially retiring from this DS role but I soon hope to share news with you about a new door of service that God could be opening. One thing is already certain, Sherry and I are planning to spend more time investing in our beautiful grandchildren in this next chapter. We might be able to retire from one role, but God’s calling is to a lifetime of ministry.  Tuesday, Michael Wood and I met in Silver Lake. The church was officially closed earlier this summer. Several issues with the property had been identified so we brought in a professional building inspector. The report will be presented to the DBA for action on September 18. Wednesday afternoon, I met with Rev. Scott Rhyno, our District Treasurer and pastor at Waterline Church, before connecting with Rev. Wayne and Dr. JoAnne Lyon at their home in Fishers. Dr. Lyon was just finishing up a video recording with Tony Casey and Matthew Tietje for the Wesleyan archives. Stay tuned for some new research resources coming from HQ.  My last stop on Wednesday was with Pastor Michael Colaw for the last of three vision-casting town halls that he led for Trinity Wesleyan Church. Trinity has been ministering in locations at Allisonville Road, Olio Road, and Garfield Park. The emerging vision would call Trinity to launch 10 new community-based, family-style churches (not campuses) over the next decade. They’re still working through details but this compelling vision speaks beyond “what is now” to prepare for “what is next.” Pray that God will continue to guide Trinity! Thursday morning, Michael Wood and I connected in Anderson as we finalize plans for the fall schedule. Signups are coming in for the series of “Lunch & Learn” that we’ve scheduled across the district beginning in September. Our first book will be “Ready or Not: Kingdom Innovation” by Doug Paul, the consultant who shared with us at district conference. There are still slots available for these gatherings. Lead pastors can sign up here: https://forms.gle/p6uuZRDHq99LHYBN7  Pastor Scott Rhyno and the team at Waterline Church in Pendleton hosted the final Saturday of their 21 Days of Prayer campaign. I was glad to worship with them and also had the chance to connect with Dr. Wayne Schmidt, our General Superintendent, who is a member there. On average, more than 10% of the congregation gathered early each morning for prayer. It’s been an encouraging season of ministry for Waterline with visitors every Sunday since they moved into their new facility. Attendance for the past quarter is up 40% over last summer. They’re rejoicing with over 50 new believers who’ve come to faith in Christ in the past 12 months! It’s inspiring to hear how God is at work across our district family. Smaller churches and larger churches, city churches and country churches, legacy churches and newly-planted churches all have a role to play. Remeber, it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.  Rev. Ben Jones leads one of our older, rural congregations that is smaller but growing. Pastor Ben is doing a great job leading this revitalization project! The team at Beaver Creek Wesleyan Church (North Liberty) celebrated 6 baptisms last weekend. Praise the Lord for lives being #MadeNew! Westview Wesleyan has long been one of our faithful middle-sized churches serving Grant County. Rev. Ryan Budde shared encouraging news of God working in their congregation this summer including three more baptisms this past weekend. God is on the move!  Pastor Eric George and the team at Memorial Drive Wesleyan Church in Muncie conducted an outdoor worship service and celebrated four baptisms in their parking lot. Praise the Lord for each one of these four new believers who publicly professed faith in Christ through baptism!  Pastor Walter Martir and the team at Monte de Sion (Indianapolis) hosted a fellowship and baptism at the lake on Saturday, August 23. Three new believers stepped forward to be baptized as a public declaration of their faith in Jesus Christ. Praise God!  Pastor Dave Leitzel led an outdoor worship service for Hamilton Wesleyan Church on Sunday morning. The highlight of their gathering was three baptisms, every life a story of redemption. Pastor Dave shared that they have 9 more baptisms coming up in the next few weeks!  Don’t miss out on ReEquip, our ministry training day on Saturday, September 27, at Eastview Wesleyan Church in Gas City. We have breakout sessions for church treasurers, youth leaders, children’s ministry directors, and even sessions on using AI in ministry. Check out the link for more information and registration: https://forms.gle/PaW8vrCNatv17ZD87  There’s still time to register for the Wesleyan Holiness Connection’s Pastors & Church Leaders Day on Tuesday, September 23. Please click here for more information and registration.  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: https://wesleyan.org/empoweredtour2025  Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte P.S. Have you explored the resources available to your church through MissionInsite? Here’s the link and more information: 
MissionInsite is a comprehensive demographic database tool that equips church leaders with insightful information to help them understand how to impact their community (Jerusalem) and beyond (Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth) with the Gospel. The Wesleyan Church has made this resource available, for free, to local churches.MissionInsite has been providing solutions to churches and regional agencies for over 13 years. Today, they serve over 107,000 faith-based organizations and 175 national and regional church agencies across 20 denominations. Their tool integrates multiple premier data sources including Epsilon, Experian, and Synergos, among other quality demographic research studies. Recording of MissionInsite Training Comments are closed.
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