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Sunday morning, May 4, Rev. Martin Furrow and the team at The Cross Wesleyan Church in Rochester welcomed me to bring greetings and the sermon in both of the worship services (9 and 10:30). Pastor Martin became lead pastor at The Cross in 2021 after serving the church as assistant pastor with Rev. Michael Cloud. This has been a good season of growth with 285 on Easter and more than 250 worshiping at The Cross last Sunday.  In addition to a strong children’s and prayer ministry, the church is best known in the community for Matthew’s Market, their food bank that serves an average of 500 families each month. Celebrate Recovery is another significant ministry to the community. They just completed their sixth year of serving people in addiction recovery.  Rev. Richard and Haley (his wife) Ladouceur and their children returned home to Indiana last year with Richard joining the staff at The Cross as Assistant Pastor. Please join me in praying for the continued impact of The Cross in Rochester Sunday afternoon, I met with Johnie Dove, our lay supply pastor at Monon Wesleyan Church. Johnie’s willingness to serve at Monon was an answer to prayer for the congregation and a big step back to the ministry calling that Johnie had as a teenager in the Free Methodist Church in Winona Lake. He is serving the church bivocationally with full-time employment in Plymouth.  The ARC Conference, sponsored by the Wesleyan Investment Foundation, was held this year in Dallas, Texas at Milestone Church. Ten of us were present from Crossroads along with a team from Northwest District led by Rev. Mark Schmerse and a few more from South Coastal District. The conference was a time of powerful worship (Brooke Ligertwood) and teaching focused on the heart of pastors. Pastor Trexler is friends with Jeff Little, host pastor at Milestone Church, so Matthew helped us get a behind-the-scenes look at this dynamic church (https://milestonechurch.com/). Next year’s ARC (Association of Related Churches) conference will be at Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC, on April 21-22.  We arrived back from Dallas on Thursday afternoon in time to prepare for the DBMD interviews on Friday. Rev. Carla Working and the committee members of the District Board of Ministerial Development gathered for training on Friday morning at Brookhaven Wesleyan Church in Marion. Our ministerial students ranged from teenagers to people in their 60s. Our DBMD members include college professors, pastors, and dedicated lay leaders.  The coursework and interview questions are important to the development of these valued individuals who are answering God’s call to the ministry of Word and sacrament. What I’ve come to value the most are the heart-level conversations that emerge as trust grows. The best gift that our DBMD offers these ministry students is ongoing encouragement and prayer.  The 2025 conference year concluded on April 30 so we’re off and running in our new 2026 conference cycle. Annual Service Reports (ASR) are coming in and the Local Church Statistical Reports (LCSR) can now be submitted online. Let us know if you need assistance. We’re praising God for the stories of changed lives coming in from our Crossroads churches. Pastor Scott McDermid and the team at Six Points Church in Sheridan continue to celebrate the way that God is working with another redemption story and baptism on Sunday!  Pastor Scott Ferguson and the team at Harvest Church in McCordsville are rejoicing with two more baptisms this past Sunday. Praise God for lives being #MadeNew!  Rev. Mark Atkinson has accepted the appointment of the District Board of Administration to serve as supply pastor at Elwood Central Wesleyan Church. He will lead the church through the process of moving from developing church to established church status in this new conference year. God is already blessing Pastor Mark’s ministry at Central. Their team is rejoicing with two baptisms yesterday and 73 in attendance.  The River Church started the new conference year on a high note with more than 40 baptisms. Pastor Trexler was still in Texas so Executive Pastor Amy Biegel brought the message from God’s Word. The pastoral staff used two baptismal tanks to serve those who came prepared to publicly declare their faith in Jesus Christ. Praise God for His faithfulness in changing hearts!  We’d love to share the stories of how God is at work in your church. Please forward baptism photos and stories to Michael Wood on Sunday afternoon for inclusion in Monday’s update. If we can’t include it in this week’s update, we’ll include your report the next week.  Fairmount Camp has opened registration for this year’s exciting summer youth camps. This year, Fairmount Camp will offer separate camps for middle school students (June 9-13) and high school students (June 16-20). For more information or to register, check out their website: https://www.fairmountcamp.org/teen-camp.html Save the Dates and join us at Lakeview Wesleyan Church in Marion:
Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent Comments are closed.
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