 Sunday morning, March 30, Dr. Craig Thurmon and the team at The Encounter Assembly welcomed me to worship with them and bring the message from God’s Word. It was exciting to be back with them and to see that the congregation has doubled in attendance since my last visit. We closed out the service with the celebration of five baptisms. Following the service, Dr. Thurmon and I spent time catching up over lunch. I’m grateful for the way that Craig leads this new congregation bi-vocationally and still finds time to serve as our District Secretary.  Sunday afternoon, Pastor Zack Working and the LBA (Local Board of Administration) at Hope Rising Church in Huntington welcomed me to lead them through a board development workshop based on the accountable leadership model. It was fun to work with Pastor Zack and his team as they continue to steward the momentum at Hope Rising.  Pastor Zack shared the amazing story from this past week when he was privileged to baptize his great uncle, who had been estranged from Christ and the church for more than 60 years!  Monday morning, Michael Wood and I met in Marion and connected with the financial team at Lakeview Wesleyan Church. Dr. Chris Williams has graciously allowed their church’s accounting staff to assist the district since Wesleyan HQ closed its Shared Accounting Service office. Many of you follow Michael’s updates on Facebook. Here’s the most recent posting on Emma Jean’s progress: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Debrh5LZa/ Tuesday, I was back on the road for coaching conversations with Rev. Andy Riemersma (Westfield ONE Church) and then with Rev. Lilly Kurker (Carmel Amistad Iglesia). It was fun to catch up with Pastor Andy’s staff at ONE Church. ONE Church has been encouraged with attendance of 170, 184, and 174 over the past three weekends.  Wednesday was another day on the road with meetings in Elwood, Indianapolis, and Muncie. One of the highlights of the day was a visit with Dr. Joe Sawyer, one of our church planting heroes. Dr. Joe was the pioneer who first planted in San Antonio and opened up Texas to The Wesleyan Church. He celebrated his 100th birthday this past year and continues to shine his testimony brightly, even in the hospice unit. Please keep Dr. Joe and Lois in your prayers!  My last stop on Wednesday was at Rising Hope Church in Muncie. Pastor Mike and Kim Hewitt have partnered with Pastor Marcos Cruz to plant three new churches in Spain. Marcos flew over for the Exponential Conference and then spent time last week ministering at Rising Hope before flying home on Thursday.  Thursday morning, I began the day meeting with Dr. David Smith, one of our faithful circuit riders. My next stop was in South Bend for lunch with Pastor Greg Holmes at Sonlight Wesleyan Church. My last stop of the day was in my annual coaching conversation with Pastor Terry Vaughn at The Bridge Urban Church. Between my afternoon meetings, I jumped on the webinar hosted by Rev. Todd Sloan with district superintendents for an update on the Thrive program. Todd has a great heart for serving our pastors and districts.  Saturday afternoon, I was blessed to host several of our urban pastors and their spouses in downtown Indianapolis. Three of the couples were at Exponential last month and came home even more committed to multiplying disciples and churches. Pastor Terry Vaughn has been part of the Exponential team for the past few years and has agreed to convene a monthly cohort of urban leaders focused on multiplication.  Pastor Mike Colaw and the team at Trinity Wesleyan Church continue to minister effectively in the Garfield Park community in downtown Indianapolis. Campus Pastor Mike Schultz shared the exciting news that eight new believers were baptized this past Thursday night!  Pastor Scott McDermid and the team at Sheridan Six Points Church celebrated another baptism on Wednesday night. Praise God for lives being #MadeNew!  Pastor David Dignal and the team at Edgerton Wesleyan Church celebrated three baptisms and one baby dedication yesterday with 20 first time guests! Praise the Lord!  Congratulations to Rev. Andrew and Kaitlynn (Weinmann) Colaw and welcome to Jeremiah Theodore, the newest member of the Crossroads District team. The Colaw’s serve on staff with Rev. Don Bayne at New Carlisle Wesleyan Church.  Congratulations to Rev. Andrew Kinney and the team at Sweetser Wesleyan Church. Rev. Kinney candidated last Sunday and accepted their call to become Sweetser’s next lead pastor!  Let’s be praying for Professor Charlie Alcock and his team at IWU as they host 1500 high school students this weekend, April 4-5, for FUSION! Don’t forget that “Never Too Young,” the middle-school event, is just around the corner, May 2-3: https://www.indwes.edu/academics/youth-ministry-events/fusion/  Fairmount Camp has opened registration for its summer youth camps. This year, Fairmount Camp is offering separate camps for middle school and high school students. For more information or to register, check out their website: https://www.fairmountcamp.org/teen-camp.html Driving through Indianapolis this morning, I was reminded that we don’t have to go to the mission field. God is bringing the mission to us here in Indiana.  Keep on making a difference in the cause that counts for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent Save the Date: Crossroads District Ordination and Conference will be at Lakeview Wesleyan Church in Marion on Friday-Saturday, June 27-28. Comments are closed.
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