The Cross in Rochester

Yesterday morning, I had the privilege of worshiping with Pastor Mike Cloud and the wonderful folks at The Cross Wesleyan Church in Rochester. This church, planted by Dave Terhune, is actively involved in serving hundreds of families each month through their “Matthew’s Market” food pantry. They have a positive reputation in the community as “the church that helps people.” Attendance is rebounding under Pastor Mike’s effective leadership and the future is bright as they reach out to their community.
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Sunday afternoon, I met (over FaceTime) with Rev. Terry Vaughn, Dr. Phil Struckmeyer and Pastor Troy Evans to review the progress they’ve made in developing a church planting proposal to plant an urban center church in South Bend. The next step will be to meet with Rev. Don Bayne and the pastors of the Region 3 North Zone in the next few weeks so they can interview Rev. Vaughn and consider the opportunity for partnership.
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Last evening, I met with the LBA at Kokomo Southdowns Wesleyan Church to conduct the extended call review for Dr. Mark Rennaker. Dr. Rennaker’s ministry is deeply appreciated and the board unanimously affirmed continuing in the extended call.
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Last week began with the District Superintendents’ Roundtable in New York City. Sherry was able to join me for this meeting. Our sessions included presentations from key leaders at Redeemer Church (pastored by Tim Keller), Jason Berry (reporting on the recent Unleashed events), and concluded with a powerful time of teaching and prayer with Pastor Jim Cymbala (Brooklyn Tabernacle). These are always informative gatherings as colleagues share best practices from across our Wesleyan Church family.
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In our free time on Tuesday afternoon, Sherry and I joined friends to experience the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It was a sobering reminder of the times in which we live. We attended the Tuesday evening service at Brooklyn Tabernacle and witnessed the finale of their powerful Easter drama presentation, “The Story of Love.”
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Sherry flew on to a board meeting at Hephzibah and I drove back to Indiana arriving home on Thursday in time to prepare to host the StratOp planning retreat at our home on Friday and Saturday.
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Mark Meyer, lead consultant with Tony Morgan’s Unstuck Group, led a passionate team of Crossroads District ministry leaders through an intensive strategic operations planning process on Friday and Saturday. You’ll be hearing more about our next steps at District Conference, June 23 and 24. Check out the information already available at this link: Crossroads District Conference

​After our meeting concluded at noon on Saturday, I joined with 135 energetic children’s ministry leaders at the 2017 KidMin Huddle featuring Phil Vischer, creator of VeggieTales. Congratulations to Rev. Michele Henry and her team for an outstanding event that impacts ministry to thousands of children in the Crossroads District.
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​This week, I’ll be with nearly 300 Wesleyan leaders at the Exponential Conference in Orlando. Pray with us that God will light the fires of multiplication.

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

Your servant in Christ,
Mark Gorveatte