General Archives - Crossgate Church

Congregational Meeting October 1st

Posted on Sep 29, 2023 in General |

We will hold a Congregational Meeting on Sunday, October 1st, during the CGC hour to elect church officers. Please plan to attend as we rejoice in God’s provision.

At this meeting the congregation will vote on calling Jay Brown as Associate Pastor, on electing Chris McKean and David Warlick as ruling elders, and on electing Bill Jones, Craig Whitman, and Wayne Hagins as deacons.

Please be in prayer for these exciting steps for Crossgate. There will be more information in the bulletin on Sunday about each of these candidates who were nominated by the congregation, have gone through a training period, and have been examined and approved by the Session. Let us give thanks to the Lord!

ASSOCIATE PASTOR CANDIDATE

Jay Brown

Jay grew up in Southern Ohio near the town of Portsmouth. He graduated in 2011 from Appalachian Bible College in Mt.Hope, WV where he majored in Bible and Missions. It was there that he began to make preparations for cross-cultural ministry. After college, Jay was an intern at a church in Jacksonville, FL where he met his wife, Hannah. Jay and Hannah spent two years as missionaries in Panama before relocating to Upstate SC in 2017. In 2021, Jay went on to complete his Master of Divinity at Erskine Theological Seminary and a pastoral internship at Downtown Presbyterian Church in Greenville, SC. He joined the Crossgate staff in January 2022 and was installed as Assistant Pastor in May 2022. Jay and Hannah have four children and one rambunctious dog. Jay enjoys spending time outdoors, working with his hands, or rooting for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

RULING ELDER CANDIDATES

Chris McKean
Chris grew up in Southeast Kansas and has lived in Arkansas, Texas, and Georgia before he and his wife Cindy moved to South Carolina in 2010. Since moving, they have been members at Crossgate for many of those years. Before relocating to the upstate, they were members of Perimeter PCA Church in Atlanta beginning in 2000. It was there that he was ordained as an elder in 2006. He has been retired from the Information Technology industry for about 5 years. He enjoys home improvement projects, home automation projects, walking on the trails near Lake Keowee, and playing golf.

David Warlick
David grew up in Simpsonville, South Carolina and moved to Seneca in 2001. He is the Orchestra Director at Seneca Middle and High School. His wife, Leslie, is a professional violinist who teaches at Clemson University. They have two children. Crossgate has been their home church since moving to Seneca because it has always been a supportive, nurturing community. David has led worship since 2008 and continues to enjoy the privilege of participating in the leadership role.

DEACON CANDIDATES

Wayne Hagins
Wayne was born and raised in Columbia, SC. He and his wife Gayle lived in Columbia, Irmo, Lexington, then Taylors before moving to Seneca in 2013. They have a son, grandson, great-grandson and three adult step-grandchildren (all in TN) plus a daughter and granddaughter (in Seneca). Wayne spent 24 years in the steel fabrication industry and 25 years in the hot dip galvanizing industry before retiring in 2019. In his youth Wayne lived across the street from a Baptist Church where he came to know Christ. Wayne and Gayle are very happy to have found a church home and family at Crossgate Presbyterian.

Bill Jones
Bill was born in Zion, Illinois and moved during middle school to St. Albans, West Virginia. He has a BS in Metallurgical Engineering and worked in the power generation industry for 37 years as a Registered Professional Engineer. He has been married to Jane for almost 50 years. They have a son, a daughter, and two grandkids. Bill has been involved with choral music since middle school. He currently teaches chemistry at Oconee Christian Academy and audits classes at Clemson. He also participates in the Audio/Video ministry at Crossgate Church. They’ve been attending Crossgate since Winter of 2018.

Craig Whitman
Craig was born and lived in Clinton, SC for his first 40 years. He grew up going to First Baptist Church in Clinton and became a follower of Jesus in 1983. He got married in 1996 to Mary and they have two adult boys, Cole (married to Olivia) and Drew. Craig worked for 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry as a manufacturing, engineering, and supply chain manager. From there, he chased a dream of teaching high school math for 1.5 years. Since 2013, he has been self-employed as a contract consultant. He works with small to mid-sized companies across a wide variety of industries helping them find what drives their business. He takes these drivers and puts metrics in place to keep the focus where it should be. This requires a fair amount of travel and he is fortunate that Mary, a counselor, can travel with him as he works. Craig and Mary started attending Crossgate in 2019 and joined in 2020. Craig has been active in community groups, the S.A.L.T ministry, and communion committee.

Shepherding Plan

Posted on Aug 11, 2023 in General |

“The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want.” Psalm 23 reminds us: the wholeness and fullness we long for comes from Christ ruling and guiding us. Because Jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:11), even our deepest wants and needs are met through him. We get to belong to him, be loved by him, provided for and led by him! Sometimes though, the pathway is difficult, and, as sheep, we all have a tendency to wander. Thankfully, Jesus says, No one is able to snatch them out of my hand (John 10:28-29).

How does Jesus hold on to and guide his sheep? One of the means he uses is under-shepherds. Think of the way Jesus tells Peter, “Feed my sheep” (John 22:17), the way Paul reminds the Ephesians elders “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” (Acts 20:28), or Peter’s exhortation to elders, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Peter 5:2). At Crossgate, we believe this is a major part of the role of the Session (pastors and ruling elders), serving as shepherds to guide God’s people to follow Christ, the “Chief-Shepherd.”

How will our spiritual shepherds at Crossgate help us follow Jesus? All of the activities of the church from our worship services and Bible teaching to our community groups and fellowship times are designed to serve this goal. As we all know though, it takes more than participating in programs to grow in Christ. And shepherds don’t just count the number of sheep in the field! They know them each individually, feed them, lead them, and protect them. Each of us needs spiritual guides who pray for us, reach out to us, and spend time with us. That’s why at Crossgate, your pastors and elders do not intend to just leave you on your own to hopefully grow, we want to come alongside you regularly and intentionally and we are putting in place a specific shepherding plan.

What will this shepherding plan involve? While there are many sides to the Session’s oversight and care for you, this shepherding plan at Crossgate involves each member of the Session having certain individuals to specifically care for and follow up with. Three simple aspects of care from the Session are primary:

Praying Weekly (bringing requests for your spiritual growth and specific needs to God )
Contacting Bi-Monthly (checking-in every other month by phone call, text, or email)
Visiting Yearly (whether having you over or coming by – taking time for in-person spiritual guidance)

You can think of it this way: we are always concerned for you, regularly checking-in with you, and intentionally setting aside time with you. That doesn’t mean you have to wait for us to contact you to express any need. We also want to be available to respond to your needs and questions. Overall we want you to be able to expect that we are here for you, representing Christ’s care for you as spiritual shepherds, intentionally guiding and pointing you to Jesus.

Who will be included in this care? We are always concerned for the whole of the Crossgate community: members, non-members, visitors, and friends of the church; however, only members have officially placed themselves under the spiritual oversight of the Session. As we are able, we would be glad to extend specific shepherding care to our regularly attending non-members, by their request. Belonging to Jesus means being one of his sheep, and so it is good to aim to be under the spiritual care of Christ’s church.

How should I respond to this shepherding? Remember Jesus loves you, and your shepherding elder wants to be an agent of expressing his love. All of us tend to put on our best face or hide from certain questions, but, obviously, there is no benefit in trying to hide from Christ. And we hope that you will also be open with us, both about what is good in your life and about what isn’t. As the book of Hebrews says, “They are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account, let them do this with joy and not groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you”(Hebrews 13:17). Our goal, more than finding what’s wrong, is to encourage you in what’s right. We want to help you grow closer to Christ and live for him.

What types of questions will I be asked? While a lot of the conversation will be about what’s going on in your life and how it is affecting you, our Core Values at Crossgate also provide a helpful spiritual focus. For example: Has your engagement in Worship lately felt more vibrant or bland? Why do you think that is? What role has Scripture played in your life lately? What about it is difficult for you and what might be helpful? How are you involved in Community at Crossgate? Where have you felt more connected or disconnected? In what ways are you taking up Service within Crossgate or outside of it? Is there something you would like to be able to do more? Since Christ has a Mission for all of us, what opportunities do you think God has placed in your life with non-Christians? How would you like God to use you? Well, sometimes you won’t know how to answer. That’s fine. These questions aim to open up the topic. We want to come alongside you and build you up in Christ (Acts 20:32).

We hope this shepherding plan encourages you and helps us all. Please pray for us as we pray for you.

In Christ,

The Crossgate Session

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21

Growing Leadership

Posted on Jun 16, 2023 in General |

God has given so many gifts to His church, including the spiritual gifts at work through each one of you in the life of this body at Crossgate. He also calls some to take up particular roles of leadership in the church, in the offices of elder and deacon.

As I mentioned this past Sunday, we have wanted to intentionally grow and develop our leadership at Crossgate because this is one of those gifts Christ gives to benefit the whole body. Please continue to pray for God to use and guide the steps in this process and to strengthen Crossgate through it.

Since the officer nominations last October, we have engaged in a season of discernment and training with several men who were willing to consider if God is calling them to serve as an officer in the church. For those who are ready to move forward once this training is complete, (1) there will be an examination by the Session; (2) then we would hold a congregational meeting, where they would be presented to the congregation for election, and (3) those elected would later be ordained and installed. We hope for these steps to take place near the end of summer and early fall.

This is a weighty consideration and significant step for Crossgate. Please pray for Chris McKean and David Warlick who have been going through elder training. And also pray for our Deacon Assistants: Bill Jones, Craig Whitman, Ed Zeagler, Jason Padgett, Michael Thorsland, and Wayne Hagins, who may choose to continue serving as a deacon assistant, to step down from that role, or to move forward toward ordination as a deacon. All of these men are already a great help and blessing to our church!

Additionally, I mentioned that Jay Brown is doing a fantastic job as Assistant Pastor, and the Session would like to present him to the congregation for Associate Pastor. You might wonder, besides the title change, what’s the difference?

There are two main differences: (1) an associate pastor is called by the congregation, while only the Session is needed to call an assistant pastor, and relatedly, (2) an associate pastor is a voting member of the Session but an assistant is not. This means that if the congregation voted to call Jay as Associate Pastor, he would be part of the full spiritual leadership and oversight of the church.

This would include an expanded job description involving his oversight of the youth and children’s ministry as well as his engaging in outreach and missions. Since Jay has been faithfully ministering with us for more than a year, hopefully it feels like you already recognize and appreciate his giftedness for serving in these ways. We trust that he has been a blessing to you as he has been a blessing to me, to our youth, and to the whole of the church.

We believe that it is an important principle that the congregation is able to choose those who provide them spiritual oversight in the Lord, by recognizing the gifts of leadership that Christ has given within His church. So please continue to prayerfully consider these steps, and if you have any further questions, please reach out to me or to any of the elders. We will also send out more information before a congregational meeting is held.

As God continues to work through Crossgate and use us for His purpose, please pray that He will use this process to strengthen and grow the church.

In Christ,

David Story

Feb '22

February 4, 2022

Posted on Feb 4, 2022 in General |

Feb '22

With the announcement about the Officer Elections coming up on March 6th, I realize it would be helpful to give a little more background on that process. Also we will provide a brief bio on both Mark Buford and Jamie Burkemper in the coming weeks. Mark is being presented as a candidate for the office of Deacon at Crossgate. Jamie’s situation is more unique, being presented as a candidate for the office of Ruling Elder from Crossgate but in order to serve as an MTW Team Leader in Madrid, Spain.

In general, the process for the election of church officers (Elders or Deacons) involves four stages: nomination by the congregation, a period of training and testing of gifts, examination by the Session, and then being presented to the congregation for election. 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 give helpful guides for the qualifications the Bible gives for the role of Elder (or Overseer) and Deacon.

Mark Buford was actually nominated back before the pandemic but his leadership training was interrupted by Covid. However, he completed the training material this past September, has been regularly involved in serving with the deacons, and passed his examination before the Session in December.

Jamie and Jen Burkemper, have been long-term members at Crossgate, but, because they have been serving as missionaries sent by the church, you might not know them as well. Since 2005 they have been working with Missions to the World (MTW), first in Mexico, and this past summer they transitioned to Madrid, Spain.

Now Jamie, if elected, would not be serving in the regular shepherding and oversight role at Crossgate (that would be difficult to do from Spain!). Rather his election as Ruling Elder would be another step in Crossgate supporting and sending him as a missionary to Madrid, especially as the MTW Team Leader there. This past summer our denomination made a new requirement that all Team Leaders must be ordained elders. Additionally this past year Jamie completed his studies at Covenant Seminary as further training for his role.

In recognizing both Jamie’s abilities to serve as MTW Team Leader in Madrid and these new requirements, Jamie was nominated for Ruling Elder at Crossgate in July. In August when the Burkempers last visited, Tom especially made sure to introduce Jamie and mention this situation to the congregation. Then the session also examined and approved Jamie in August, intending to wait until the next congregational meeting to handle these officer elections together.

The congregational role of electing officers is an important and serious responsibility. In it, as you recognize gifts God has given for the benefit of the church, you are confirming God’s call on these individuals to these roles of Deacon and Ruling Elder, and affirming your desire to support them in it. So we want you to be well informed and have ample time for consideration before the congregational meeting March 6th. Again we will also provide brief bios of both men and we welcome further questions you may have.

We hope and pray that God will continue to raise up others to serve as elders and deacons at Crossgate. And we are thankful for the many gifts He has given all through this congregation and the ways we serve Christ and one another together.

In Christ,

David Story

Jan '22

January 14, 2022

Posted on Jan 14, 2022 in General |

Jan '22

What an honor and privilege now to be your pastor at Crossgate! And what an encouragement the installation service was last Sunday evening! As I said then my heart is full, and I am deeply humbled by your willingness for me to take on this role.

God has called us together into the gospel work that He has for us here at Crossgate. And I look forward to the future as God guides our steps and uses us to glorify his name. And while I have commented numerous times that I have big shoes to fill, there is also a strong foundation to stand on – a great history of a church built on the foundation of God’s Word, Christ Jesus himself the chief cornerstone.

Let me make two requests of you as I begin this new role. First, I hope you will take the opportunities to allow me get to know you better as your pastor. Having been here for more than two years, I am so glad to already know you as much as I do. And what a wonderful group of people God has brought together as the Crossgate church family! It is a joy to see your faces, catch up, and talk more each week. You mean so much to me already.

At the same time, I am aware that there is a deeper closeness and openness to develop in being your pastor – a level that wasn’t as much looked for or needed when Tom was here as your pastor but that can be felt more keenly now. There is so much more of your story that I have yet to hear, how God has worked in your past, your struggles and joys in the present, and your hopes for the future. You need your pastor to know you deeply, and I look forward to us developing that together.

Secondly, I want to encourage you to continue serving and using your gifts at Crossgate. This one body has many members and it is only when each part is working properly that the body grows, building itself up in love. I have been here long enough to know that there are a lot of parts that keep this ship moving and that I may not know even half of what each of you do. If you all were to suddenly stop and wait for specific direction from me, things would fall apart quickly. But I am encouraged by how well you love one another, meet the needs around you, study Scripture, reach out, draw others in, and seek out the opportunities God has give you. Let’s keep that going!

While I hope to strengthen and encourage you in your role and to further fan into flame the good work that God is doing in you, I want to remind you that at my installation, Crossgate did not become David’s church any more than it was Tom’s church previously. Crossgate has always been Christ’s church, as well as your church when God called you into it. Let’s each of us continue to honor God with the gifts He has given us. And if you are wondering how you can serve and be more involved, please consider this an invitation to jump right in, and know that I am glad to guide you and talk with you more.

Well, it has been a good “first week” in this new role, and I look forward to the weeks and years ahead serving the Lord together, depending on His grace, and continuing to grow true disciples!

In Christ,

David Story

Dec '21

December 17, 2021

Posted on Dec 17, 2021 in General |

Dec '21

Well, words are inadequate to express our surprise and deepest gratitude for the amazing retirement party this past Saturday. Joye and I were overwhelmed to put it mildly. We couldn’t believe all the trouble everyone went to in order to pull this off. I think it’s fair to say that we have never felt more loved and appreciated! So thank you a million times over for the blessing of this night – for this amazing outpouring of love. This night has been etched indelibly on our hearts so that we will never forget it. This was an event, the likes of which very few pastors ever get to experience. I’m so grateful that Joye and I got to.

And there are a couple more things I want to thank you for. First let me thank you for the generous monetary gift that you gave us. Your generosity was mind-boggling. The fact is that you just kept blowing us away the whole night – one thing after another. Thank you dear, dear friends for blessing us and causing our hearts to overflow with love and joy.

And lastly, thank you for all the cards and kind words you shared with us. Joye and I read each one yesterday, and we were so encouraged and blessed by each one.

Well, our time in Seneca is coming to an end and we have such mixed emotions about this move. We are really looking forward to being with our children and grandchildren – eager to be able to invest in our grandchildren while we have the opportunity. But to leave this amazing body of believers behind is painful. How we love you all and how we will miss you. But you can be sure that we will continue praying for you and are confident that God will continue to grow this body under David’s leadership and use you in some wonderful ways to grow the kingdom of God both locally and around the world.

As most of you probably know, we are starting to build a house on Lookout Mt., and when it is finished, we would love for you to come and visit. Nothing would make us happier than to have our Crossgate family visit us in our new home.

With our deepest love and affection!

Tom and Joye

Nov '21

November 5, 2021

Posted on Nov 5, 2021 in General |

Nov '21

This coming Sunday will be a special day in the life of our church. For the past year and a half as all of us have struggled through the Pandemic and tried to maintain social distance, we have had to meet at two different times for worship. I’m thankful we could at least meet for worship, but I know that all of us have missed being together as a whole body. We have all felt like something was missing. Well, this coming Sunday, all of that will change. The Session has decided that it is time for us to return to one service and so we will revert back to our traditional times for CGC and Worship. We will have our Christian Growth Classes at 9:30 am and then our worship service at 10:45 am. I hope you are as excited as David and I are about this. It’s going to be so much fun having everyone together again – seeing people that you may not have seen in a while – and then worshiping our great God and Savior together.

Let me encourage you to do a few things as we prepare to come together Sunday. First of all, when you arrive, grab your nametag and wear it so everyone knows who you are. Secondly, if you see someone you don’t know – and I’m sure that will happen – be sure and reach out to them by introducing yourself. We’ve had quite a few new people begin worshiping with us, so don’t be timid. Introduce yourself and get to know them. Thirdly, because Covid is still lingering around, if you or your children get sick or even display some mild symptoms, please don’t come to church and take the chance of exposing others to what could possibly be Covid. For the health and wellbeing of the body, stay home and enjoy worshiping with us online.

As our two services come to an end, I want to say a special thanks to a number of people who have diligently and faithfully served this body through this trying time. I’m not going to name names because I’m afraid I would leave someone out. But I do want to recognize the Worship Team and all the men and women who have made some pretty significant sacrifices so that we could have two services. They have arrived at church each Sunday around 7:30 am and then stayed through the second service. Talk about a long day! But never once did I hear a complaint from anyone about having to spend so much time doing this. And the same goes for the men who have operated the A/V booth. They have been amazing! There are others like Mark Buford who have faithfully served behind the scenes. Almost every Sunday when I come to church, Mark is out front blowing off the sidewalk so it’s not so messy. You might not think that a clean porch is that important – but these small things make a big difference! So a big, big thank-you to the men and women who out of love for Christ and His church tirelessly serve His people. See you Sunday!!

Oct '21

October 22, 2021

Posted on Oct 21, 2021 in General |

Oct '21

How important is prayer to you? How important do you think prayer ought to be at Crossgate? If we decided not to pray about the various ministries of the church and instead, just worked hard to have programs that were helping people to grow spiritually, do you think it would matter? Interesting questions, aren’t they? I know probably all of you would say that prayer is indeed important – or at least, ought to be. And I’m pretty sure that most of you would say that prayer ought to be an important, if not central ministry in any church that is hoping to be used by God.

Well, this coming Tuesday evening at 7:00 pm you’ll have an opportunity to make it known how you feel about these things. We’re going to have a prayer meeting and we are inviting everyone to come and spend time together praying about the various ministries of the church along with other concerns and needs that may be on your heart.

In the past, we have had a weekly prayer meeting in which a dozen or so people met to pray. With the beginning of our Community Groups, we decided that we would encourage each group to pray for one or two ministries each time they met, and then we would have a church-wide prayer meeting on the last Tuesday of each month. And so this coming Tuesday is the last Tuesday in October (I know it is hard to believe) and we would love to have a lot of you join us as we worship the Lord and join our hearts before His throne of grace. We need this time together! We need to seek the Lord and His face so that He might bless us and He might use us in a powerful way to promote His glory!

I know what some of you are thinking – “I can’t pray in a group” or it might be that you just don’t like to pray in a group. Either way – I’ve heard this a zillion times over the years. But what most people don’t realize is that this excuse is nothing more than Satan’s way of weakening the church by keeping her from her power source. There really is power in prayer, and there really is weakness when prayer is neglected. Listen, no one is going to force you to pray out loud. But even if you don’t pray out loud, you can still listen and you can still pray silently along with others. So would you take an hour out of your week – out of your month – to pray with us. Hope you will and I can guarantee you, it will be a special time together.

Aug '21

August 13, 2021

Posted on Aug 12, 2021 in General |

Aug '21

Do you know how to listen to a sermon? On the surface that may seem like a crazy question to ask, but it really isn’t. Actually, I think it may be one of the big problems in the church of Christ today. People have ears to hear, but cannot hear – they cannot hear what God is saying to them through His Word. They don’t know how to listen to sermons. They are like the people that Jesus addressed on a few different occasions. These people obviously heard the words that Jesus was speaking and they were even amazed at his teaching, but they really didn’t grasp the spiritual significance of those words. In other words, the message didn’t penetrate their hearts so as to make a difference in the way they lived. Sadly, I believe a lot of people sitting in churches on Sunday mornings fall into this same camp.

Why is that? There are probably a number of reasons, but let me mention a few.

Our hearts have been hardened by sin (cf. Parable of the Soils in Matthew 13) so that the seed of God’s Word cannot penetrate the heart. If God has convicted us of sin and we have refused to repent of it, we will not profit from the preaching of God’s Word regardless of who is delivering the message.
We really don’t want to change. We want our ears to be tickled (cf. 2 Timothy 4:3). We want to feel good so we’re not going to hear what God has to say.
We’re too focused on the messenger rather than the message. All of us like to hear good speakers but eloquence and spiritual power do not necessarily go hand in hand. Let me remind you what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:4 – “my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” I’m convinced that a lot of people today would not have enjoyed listening to Paul because of how he presented his message.
We want to be spoon-fed so we don’t have to think too hard (or at all). We expect the preacher to fully digest the Scriptures and tell us what we need to know and if he doesn’t do that like we want, if we actually have to think for ourselves, we become a little peeved.

Well, I could list some more reasons, but I don’t want to be too wordy here. The point I want to make is this: if our hearts are right with the Lord and we really want Him to speak to us so we can change AND if our focus is on the Word and we’re trying to understand it so as to apply it to our lives, God’s Word will feed our souls and it will change us. We may not think the messenger is the most eloquent in his presentation, but if he is faithfully turning our attention to the Scriptures, God will speak through him powerfully and we will grow as true disciples.

The bottom line is this: there are all sorts of preachers out there and some are better than others but if they are true to the Word, God will use them to feed us spiritually and help us grow as true disciples. So, let’s ask God to give us ears to hear Him regardless of who is preaching.

Jul '21

July 30, 2021

Posted on Jul 30, 2021 in General |

Jul '21

As you all have read in my letter and the letter from the Session, we have two very important congregational meetings coming up. We don’t have many congregational meetings at Crossgate, so I wanted to clarify what is about to happen.

Next Sunday, August 8, we will have the first of these meetings to elect a Search Committee for the next Senior Pastor at Crossgate. As you already know, the recommendation of the Session and the motion that will be presented to you is that the Session serve as this committee. And if so elected, the Session intends to recommend at the next congregational meeting two weeks later that David Story be elected to serve as your next pastor. This is the direction that the Session believes God is moving our church. We believe that David is a man of God who can effectively lead this church in the days/years ahead. But having said that, you as the congregation have the responsibility to either confirm or overturn this. It is not a “done deal” until the congregation votes. This is one of the great privileges and responsibilities of a member of Crossgate. You have a voice and get to have a say in who will pastor this church.

So next Sunday, you will vote by ballot on the Search Committee and if the motion of the Session passes by a majority vote, the Session will serve in this capacity. But in the interim two weeks before the next meeting, the Session would like to hear from you if you should have concerns/questions or simply want to affirm the direction we are moving in. We believe that God uses the counsel of godly men and women to reveal His will for a church and so we want to hear what you have to say. In this way, we believe that Crossgate can move forward as one – in the unity of His Spirit. This doesn’t mean that everyone agrees on every single thing, but it does mean that we “be subject to one another in the fear of Christ” (Ephesians 5:21) and that we “give preference to one another in honor.” (Romans 12:10) In other words, we must be willing to accept the vote of the majority in the congregation as, not only the will of God for Crossgate, but His will for individual members.

This is one of the most important votes that you will ever cast as a member of Crossgate, so please plan on being at this meeting next Sunday. We will begin the meeting at 10:15 am, and begin the second service at 11:00 am, rather than 10:45 am. And in the meantime, let’s be praying that as we come together, we might clearly discern God’s will for us and we might wholeheartedly embrace this together.