Crossroads!!!

As a pastor, I often feel as though I should have more figured out than I do.  Following an invisible God is hard! Which makes it all the more awesome when you catch a clear glimpse of His hand at work. I’m often a little slow to the lightbulb, but lately, God has been making Himself very clear.

As a church, we are committed to helping the lost get found and helping those who are found learn to live increasingly in Jesus’s freedom. Today, we want to share some exciting family news, look back at how God is growing our church, and announce a step of faith we are taking together to follow Him forward in our staff leadership.

Thank you, Emily

First,  it’s with a bittersweetness that we want to share that Emily Meyer will be stepping out of her role as our Interim Junior High Ministry Director. With the upcoming birth of their next son, Emily and Alan have been prayerfully re-evaluating their time and commitments as their family enters this busy, growing season. We are so happy for them and are praying for the Lord’s continued blessing over their family.

We are so thankful for Emily and the way she has used her gifts to love and disciple our junior high students. Ministry is truly a community project which means it takes every part doing their part for a church family to be healthy. We are deeply thankful for Emily, and for the hundreds of folks like her at Crossroads who understand they have a real part to play in helping the lost get found. While we are sad to see her formally step off the staff team, we are thrilled that she and Alan will continue to serve and be a part of our church body.

Reflecting on our growth

Emily stepping down has created a unique opportunity for Crossroads—but to explain why, let’s look back at where we’ve been.

Starting in 2024, our leadership team began taking a hard look at our strategic focus for the future. Over the last two years, God has blessed us with massive growth. We’ve gone from about 290 to 415 regular attendees on Sunday mornings, and our database shows that roughly 600 people are now regularly connecting with, serving in and giving to our ministries.

With that growth came a realization: we needed to get a little more organized. We needed clearer ways to help newcomers get connected and a more intentional plan for discipleship.

While we recognize that discipleship is more than just a class, we believe there are foundational truths to understanding the basics of faith in Jesus Christ. Our goal isn’t merely to transfer information, but to pursue genuine transformation. Because of this, the coursework here at Crossroads takes a heart-focused approach—aiming not to just dump facts, but to help everyone build deep, meaningful relationships centered on the Word of God.

Why we’re excited about this now

Over the last year, a dedicated volunteer team has spent countless hours developing an eight-week discipleship course. Behind the scenes, Levi and Abby along with some volunteers have been working on a financial course to help our people create margin and experience true financial freedom. We are also discussing how we can better resource parents and have successfully launched a quarterly marriage course.

A lot of great things are happening, but we realize that to do this well, we need a dedicated person whose sole focus is to think through what we teach, when we teach it, and how we teach it.

As such, we have been praying about making the financial investment to bring on a full-time staff member to oversee this unified discipleship plan. While we originally thought we might wait another year to expand our staff, God’s timing is always perfect. Going into our strategic planning weekend in 2024, our leadership team had no idea that two of our own—both with promising careers—would leave their jobs to join the CR team full-time over the next 2 years. But God did! First it was Abby Nafziger stepping into the Executive Director role and now as Emily steps into this beautiful new season with her family, we clearly see God’s hand at work, opening a door and inviting us to step out in faith earlier than we had planned.

Welcoming Brett to the team

In this new full-time role, Brett will help lead our discipleship efforts. Instead of having to develop and teach all the material himself, Brett will be responsible for raising up teams and resourcing leaders to keep our pathway thriving. He will help coordinate with our Connect Groups and manage our equipping classes. Plus, Brett will continue to lead our Senior High ministry while also overseeing our Junior High ministry.

Finally, as part of his growth, we are asking Brett to begin pursuing a Certificate of Theology from the FEC—a Master’s level education that Pastor Levi also holds—to further equip him for this role.

Lastly, we really want to acknowledge Brett’s wife, Kaite. This was very much a family decision, and Kaite feels called to this alongside Brett as they have both served our Church family well over the years. To be clear, Brett is the only one being hired for this staff position. But as many of you know, successful married leaders in any ministry capacity are very much a team! This is a calling and a special kind of work that takes a commitment not just from the individual, but from their spouse and family as well. We are so excited that the Yungmanns are all in on following God into leadership here at Crossroads. Please pray with them and for them as they follow the Lord into these new waters as this is a significant transition for their family—one they have prayerfully embraced, even though it brings considerable lifestyle, financial, and time implications. They have embraced this call by faith!

Walking by faith

We join them in that faith adventure!  

Our Elders and Management Team have looked at and prayed through the numbers. We feel strongly that God’s hand is in this, and we believe it is doable within our current budget.

That being said, our budget process always contains an element of faith. We are called to be wise, but our leaders also understand that we put together faith budgets, not just fiscal ones.

The Lord’s math is not our math. Sometimes God calls us into things where, if He doesn’t show up, we won’t “make the numbers.” But we can confidently report that He has never let us down yet! We spend a lot of time praying for His direction, and when He calls, we step out in faith.

Now, I know talking about budgets can sound a bit boring, however, the reality behind the numbers is anything but. Just last week, I had a conversation with a couple who started coming to our church about eight months ago. When they first walked through our doors, they didn’t know Jesus. They were lost, but today, they are found and learning how to live free in Jesus!

That is why we do what we do. The ministry here at Crossroads is changing lives.

Partnering with Christ to see the lost get found and the found live free involves giving generously of our time, our talents, and our finances. As we take this next step, we are asking our entire church family to pray and seek the Lord’s hand in how you can continue to partner with us to support these ministries.

As the Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” We want you to give because you feel called by God to do so, never out of obligation or arm twisting. And we are so grateful for the many of you who already give so generously!

Please join us in thanking Emily for her wonderful ministry, and in celebrating and praying for Brett and his family as he steps into this new full-time role!

It is a humbling privilege to partner with God in what He’s doing here in Henry County. Our only task is to align ourselves with His will. Onward and upward!! Let’s Go!