 Sunday morning, September 15, began with a wonderful time of worship and fellowship at Three Rivers Wesleyan Church in Fort Wayne. Pastor Kyle Horton and his team gave me a warm welcome. Dan Kensinger was honored by Pastor Kyle as volunteer of the month. I was glad to preach and bring greetings from our district team. Following the service, Pastor Kyle and I briefly met with the LBA (local board of administration).  I left Fort Wayne in time to join Pastor Janiel Caraballo and the team at The Exit Church in Anderson for the launching service of our newest church plant. Special thanks to Pastor Michael Hewitt and Rising Hope Church for coaching and sending the Caraballo family to begin this new work. Pastor Jerry Alexander and the team at Living Hope Church are to be commended for their vision and generosity in hosting this new congregation.  It was a wonderful celebration service that concluded with their first baptism service. Pray for Pastor Janiel and Leana as they build on this strong beginning and create a movement of disciples making disciples. I was grateful to see several of our area pastors show up to demonstrate their support for this family and this exciting new project.  Pastor Mike’s team from Rising Hope joined the celebration with two baptisms for their congregation. We plant new churches to reach new community groups and the next generation for Christ. Let’s keep on multiplying disciples and churches until Jesus comes!  Sunday evening, more than 400 pastors, family, and friends gathered in Marion for the Crossroads District ordination service. Dr. Wayne Schmidt, our General Superintendent brought the message from God’s Word and presided over the ritual of ordination. We ordained nine new ministers of the Gospel and welcomed three transferring ministers from other fellowships.  Dr. Chris Williams and the team at Lakeview Wesleyan Church did a great job hosting the event. Rev. Carla Working and the DBMD are to be commended for the excellent work they did in preparing these candidates for ordination. Praise God that He is still calling and sending laborers into His harvest field!  Last week’s scheduled included a quick trip to Kingswood University in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. Kingswood holds a special place in my heart. In addition to the five years that I served as president, all of my children (and one daughter-in-law) attended Kingswood. My father and mother met at Kingswood back when the campus was still in Nova Scotia. Kingswood has a wonderful past but also a bright future as they lead The Wesleyan Church with innovative online certificate and degree programs that now serve more than 1100 students. Check out their online ordination courses: https://www.kingswood.edu/academic-excellence/ordination-studies  President Lennox was a gracious host and made it possible for me to meet with students and faculty members. We’re always looking for church planters so I was delighted for several conversations about those possibilities. Another highlight of my time at Kingswood was hearing Rev. Matthew DePrez (pastor of Inspire Church in Fremont, MI and a Kingswood alumnus). Pray for Kingswood as Dr. Lennox retires this next year and as the presidential search team convenes.  I arrived back in time to meet with a new mentoring group of young leaders on the IWU campus. Levi Trexler and Elliot Williams brought along friends for a conversation on Oswald Sanders’ classic book, Spiritual Leadership. I’m looking forward to connecting monthly with them throughout this school year.  Saturday morning, Sherry and I hosted our first monthly pastors and spouses brunch. This first group met in Warsaw at the Crazy Egg. We had great conversations and a meaningful time of prayer to close our time together. Our next monthly brunch will be at The Branch in Fairmount on October 19. Pastors will receive the link for signing up to confirm their attendance.  From Warsaw, Sherry and I drove on the Plymouth in time to connect with Dr. Chris Williams and the leadership cohort that he’s working with each month. Leaders get better when they learn from other leaders and when the leader gets better everyone benefits! Dr. Williams has a couple of slots left in the Plymouth group and in the Marion group. Contact him directly ASAP if you’d like to jump in with one of these cohorts.  Nothing brings us greater joy than to hear stories of lives being transformed by the power of the Gospel. Dr. Craig Thurmon and The Encounter Assembly celebrated five baptisms yesterday morning. We are so grateful for the wonderful work that Pastor Craig and Tiffany are doing in planting this church which began online during the pandemic. We’re believing with them for great days ahead at TEA!  FUEL is coming to Indiana, October 11-12! Santes Beatty, Director of NextGen Ministries invites all youth and children’s workers to attend this convenient and helpful training event. This year’s event is held right here in our backyard so make tracks, not excuses. (Scholarships are available from the district office if finances would keep you from participating.) Here’s the link to register for the two-day event.  Each year, our district conference receives reports from our various ministry champions. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing several of those reports for you to enjoy. Every ministry matters and we’re grateful for the outstanding ministers who generously provided point leadership for these initiatives last year. This week’s excellent report is from one of our circuit riders, Dr. Lo. Read his report at this link. Thank you for all you do to make a difference for eternity! Your servant in Christ, Mark Gorveatte Crossroads District Superintendent Comments are closed.
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