The Exit Church, Empowered Tour, and Fall Outreach

Sunday morning, October 26, Pastor Janiel and Leana Caraballo welcomed me to worship with them at The Exit Church in Anderson. This new bilingual congregation was launched just over a year ago. Pastor Jerry Alexander and the team at Living Hope Church graciously host this new gathering in their fellowship hall. The church is uniquely positioned to minister in Anderson with a team comprised of Hispanic, African-American, and Anglo leaders. Pastor Janiel does team teaching with younger ministers and he also translates his messages from English to Spanish sentence by sentence. Please keep this team in your prayers as they enter their second year of ministry!
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On my way to Exit’s 10:30 service, I dropped in on Rev. Scott Rhyno and his team at Waterline Church in Pendleton for their 9 a.m. worship gathering. Pastor Scott is another of our effective ministers who leads a growing congregation and also serves in the marketplace. It was great to see Rev. Bern Lytle, retired Wesleyan pastor, who exemplifies servant leadership in supporting his local church in retirement. Bern was serving on the greeting team for the 9 a.m. service. He and Cathy have also led Alpha groups in their home to reach their neighbors. These are exciting days at Waterline Church!
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My last stop for the day was at ARISE Church in Roanoke on Sunday afternoon. Like many of our churches, ARISE takes advantage of this fall harvest season to host a creative outreach event. Pastor Aldean Pablo and his team welcomed a great crowd from their community for a fall festival with games, prizes, and hayrides. Craig Groeschel sometimes puts it this way: “we’ll do anything short of sin to reach one more person for Christ.”
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Last Monday, I was in Marion to check in with Dr. Chris Williams and the monthly leadership development cohort that he convenes. They have coordinated their schedule so they can meet at The River on the same day as Pastor Trexler’s cohort. This allows them to share lunch together with a broader cross-section of our district team.
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​Monday evening, I met with Pastor Kyle Horton and the LBA at Three Rivers Church in Fort Wayne. We completed the quadrennial review of Pastor Kyle’s extended call. The LBA unanimously affirmed his continued service. They are wisely making provisions for his next sabbatical in 2028.
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Tuesday, I was able to jump on the Zoom call hosted by Wesleyan HQ to allow General Board members and district superintendents to preview the revised General Board Policy on Ministerial Discipline and Restoration. These are policies we hope to never have to use!

Wednesday, I was on the road for our “Lunch & Learn” meeting in Lafayette and then drove back through Frankfort to interview an exceptional pastor interested in transferring to us from a sister denomination.

Thursday, Michael Wood joined me to host the “Lunch & Learn” for our Anderson area pastors. It’s so encouraging to hear the reports from how God is at work in the churches across our district. We have one more Lunch & Learn coming up this week, Tuesday (11:30-1:00) in Plymouth. Our theme this month has been pastors who shepherd well.

Friday, I was on the road to sign closing docs for RE.THINK Church in Merrillville. Pastor Marc and Heather Ulrich are doing a great job leading this growing ministry. They were able to purchase their own home this past year so the church sold the parsonage to care for improvements at their worship facility.

My last stop on Friday was at Daybreak Church in Hudsonville, Michigan. Dr. Ed Love and his team at the Church Multiplication and Discipleship Department sponsored a regional youth/young adult event called the “Empowered Tour” on Friday and Saturday.

The Crossroads District was well represented with youth groups from Indianapolis, Lafayette, Muncie, Westfield, and Winchester (and I may have missed some). Special thanks to lead pastors like Rev. Randy Yaryan (Winchester) and Rev. Andy Riemersma (Westfield) who joined with the teenagers for this important gathering.
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Pastor Andy Riemersma was also one of the featured musical artists and then he spoke in the closing rally. Pray for the many students who made spiritual commitments and answered the call to ministry!
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All Crossroads District retired ministers and their spouses are invited to join us for our fall brunch and fellowship on Friday, November 21, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at Eastview Wesleyan Church in Gas City. We’re honored to welcome Dr. Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent Emerita, as our guest speaker. This is the first year since Dr. Lyon officially “retired” but she and Wayne are both staying very busy.
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​Come join us for this special occasion. Please RSVP by emailing [email protected] or by calling 765-674-8593 and leaving a message with your name and number of guests attending.

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

Your servant in Christ,

Mark Gorveatte

​Crossroads District Superintendent

P.S. - If you’d like to catch inspiring sessions from leaders like Francis Chan, Ed Stetzer, and Derwin Gray, you can join the Exponential National Conference (West) for free via livestream starting tomorrow. Watch at: exponential.org/live