FAQs RE: Crossroads Bible Church “Stretch”
Q: What is the schedule and location for the Crossroads Church stretch?
A: We plan to continue meeting at Walker Charter Academy (WCA) through Sunday September 26. On Sunday October 3, 2010, we plan to have services at both WCA and at Northpointe Christian High School (NCHS), 3101 Leonard Street NE, Grand Rapids. Services at WCA will continue to be: Saturday at 6 PM and Sunday at 9 and 11:15 AM. Gatherings at NCHS will be Sunday at 9 and 11:15.
Q: How are you going to provide the worship and teaching experience at both venues?
A: The typical plan will be that in week #1, Teacher A will preach at Crossroads East while Teacher B will preach at Crossroads West. In week #2, they will simply preach the same sermons at the opposite venues. Worship teams, which typically are different each week at WCA will be rotated as needed. All this, of course, will necessitate some additional personnel. To assist with the expanded teaching needs, the elders have sensed God’s leading to ask Neil Martin, currently a Vice President at Zondervan Inc., to become an Associate Pastor at Crossroads. As Neil winds down his responsibilities at Zondervan in the coming months, he will begin teaching part time at Crossroads along with other teachers, including some who taught when Rod was in Israel this past spring. To assist with the need for another worship team, we have moved Will Weatherhead from a part time to a full time worship leader. Your prayers for these men, their families and the entire staff are so critically necessary and greatly appreciated.
Q: I thought we were looking for a larger building in the near NW side of Grand Rapids that would allow us to minister to the city and have the capacity to house a growing congregation. What changed?
A: Great question. As elders, we have truly been seeking the Lord for a building in the near NW side of Grand Rapids. In the process, during the past five years we have looked at scores of buildings and have had plans drawn for at least two of them. But in doing so, we have remained totally committed to the concept of not incurring debt in acquiring a building. Bottom line, for the relatively few buildings that could potentially meet our needs in terms of size, parking etc., God never opened the door to make it work financially. We interpreted this as a closed door.
As to ministry in the city, we remain totally committed to making this happen. But buying a “box” in the city in which to hold gatherings does not guarantee we will minister to the neighbors around that box. In view of those who currently come to Crossroads, it is likely that any building we might acquire in the city would simply be the place we would travel to from our largely suburban homes. On the other hand, the ministries we have partnered with, the Stockbridge Boiler Room and the Bridge Street House of Prayer, do have a vibrant and growing connection to the people in the city. These ministries are seriously considering having Sunday worship services with the people they are currently connecting with. We have a desire to assist them in this sort of a church stretch. And while their churches won’t have the name “Crossroads,” they will still be works of God for which we will have the privilege of providing both dollars and volunteers. More important than having a single focus as Crossroads of the inner city of Grand Rapids is the need for each of us to prayerfully consider what is our own “street corner.” For some, it will be a move into the city. For others, it will be reaching the “up and outers” in suburbia.
One final point: we want to be a 90-10 church wherein only 10 percent of what we are as a church occurs during weekend gatherings and 90 percent happens during the week. Investing major dollars in a building used largely for the 10 percent flies in the face of our stated desire to minimize this aspect of Crossroads.
Q: I love the people who are part of Crossroads. I don’t like the thought of not seeing many of these brothers and sisters because they will be going to a different campus than I will be a part of.
A: We’ve heard this from a number of people and, while we empathize with the concerns, we can’t help but also being grateful that there are such strong bonds of love among us. That said, the reality, of course, is that we already have three services at WCA. If you attend Saturday night, you don’t rub shoulders too often with those who attend Sunday morning. One way of looking at this stretch is that we are merely increasing the number of services per weekend from three to five. And we are not having separate youth ministries or men’s or women’s ministries. We are in the process of renting a larger central city ministry area for midweek and other meetings so we can truly continue as one church with two campuses. And if we truly become more of a 90-10 church, the significance of our weekend meetings will fade and our house church gatherings will grow in importance. Close friendships will be given ample opportunities to flourish.
Q: What about special times like Easter and Christmas? How can one teacher preach a seasonal sermon at both venues at the same time?
A: Another great question that we haven’t totally resolved. But we are looking at the possibility of renting a large enough facility so we can all meet under the same roof on these special occasions.
Q: Will Crossroads ever get a building of its own?
A: While not altogether ruling that out, we have no plans of owning real estate. We like the flexibility of renting space which allows us to devote more resources into people and missions. Our missions budget has grown from 10 percent to the present 17.5 percent over the past 5 years. We want it ultimately to be 50 percent of our operating budget.
FAQ 8-31-10
