Pastor Appreciation, Eastview, and GP

Thank you to every congregation in our district that has taken time this month to specifically express appreciation to your pastors! If you haven’t yet, you still have this coming Sunday to let your pastor know how much you value her or his ministry. For creative ideas, check out this website: https://resources.wesleyan.org/pastor-appreciation
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Saturday evening and Sunday morning, October 20-21, I had the privilege of ministering alongside Pastor Mark Atkinson and his team at Eastview Wesleyan Church in Gas City. These are exciting days at Eastview Wesleyan with 15 new believers professing faith in Christ this month and a baptism scheduled for this coming weekend.
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The congregation took time in each of the services to express their appreciation to Pastor Mark and the pastoral staff with hand-made cards from the children and gift cards from the adults. Attendance was 333 on the previous weekend and they are praying about the next two communities in which they sense that God may be leading them to develop campuses. After the second morning service, I met with the LBA and was blessed with a card and thoughtful gifts for the DS Appreciation. My favorite? The 1926 PHC Manual! (Not counting the listing of all credentialed ministers, it was only 108 pages long.)
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Sunday evening, I met with Pastor Clifton Ashlock and the leadership team at United Wesleyan Church in Anderson. After 40 years of ministerial service, including 20 years at Anderson United, Pastor Ashlock has announced his retirement at the conclusion of this conference year. Anderson United is a welcoming, multicultural church with 30% of the church having Spanish as their first language. This was my second meeting with these leaders and they’re now beginning the process of inviting applications/resumes. Pray with Anderson United as they seek God’s leader for this next chapter of their ministry.
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Before our Crossroads District GP team left for Asia last week, I was able to jump in with Assistant DS Matthew Trexler and the Region 1 team as they welcomed Rev. Gregg Parris, lead pastor at Muncie’s Union Chapel Ministries. He told the story of their journey of faith from less than 100 people to more than 1000 as he’s faithfully served and they’ve generously given. Pastor Gregg has a Kingdom vision to plant 100 churches in the next 10 years from their congregation and they’ve been a blessing to our newest church plant in Muncie, Rising Hope. (Reminder to Region 3 pastors that you’re meeting with Assistant DS Rev. Chris Williams at Plymouth Wesleyan Church on November 1, 10 am to noon).
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Many of you will know that the Crossroads District has long-established ministry relationships with Global Partners’ fields in Mozambique and Bangladesh. This past week, I joined Dr. Rich Schenck, Rev. Carol Schenck, Rev. Emily Hines, and Rev. David Hines to serve and encourage the wonderful GP team in Bangladesh. This Wesleyan ministry is less than 10 years old but has already grown to 50 churches, 10 of which were planted just last year.
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This field has a holistic ministry of compassion and outreach that is bearing lasting fruit in this unreached country where less than 1% profess Christ. Dr. Rich and Rev. Carol have been actively engaged and providing oversight to this field from its earliest stages of development. They will have another team going next year and they would love to introduce you to the blessing of partnering with these anointed leaders.
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DYP Lane Sander passed along the encouraging report from last evening’s “OctoberBash” hosted by Rev. Andy Jellison and his team from Lifeway Church in Fort Wayne. 120 students and adults gathered from 8 of our churches for this great night of worship, connection and outreach. Paul Masters, from Cultivate Church (LaOtto), brought a challenging message from God’s Word.
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​Sherry and I are looking forward to hosting the Crossroads District Youth Pastors at our place this Friday evening, October 26, 6:30 p.m.  If you’re coming but have not yet sent your RSVP, please connect with Rev. Seth Bye no later than Wednesday.

Our sympathies and prayers are extended to Rev. Jim Weinmann, Mr. Elvin Weinmann, and other family members as they mourn the death of their brother Mr. Rick Weinmann, of Ohio. We also received word that Mrs. Sarah Herring, wife of retired pastor Rev. Ron Herring, passed away last Thursday. She was a vital part of their pastoral ministry and also served in Marion Community Schools for 37 years. Thank you in advance for reaching out to these families to express your support.

Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity!

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

Crossroads District Superintendent