Brookfield Announcement

Crossroads is here because a group of people 50 years ago recognized a need for a christian church and sacrificed to make it happen. We are able to worship each week together because of their courage and faith. We believe that God desires for us to use our resources and connections to reach more people with the grace of Jesus. As Crossroads has continued to grow, we have seen many people visiting from further away. As followers of Jesus, we are each called to reach our “ONE,” making new disciples. Multiplying locations is one of the best ways for the church to make an impact in new places. God continues to open up more doors to move his mission forward in this way. 

The leadership at Crossroads has been burdened for some time with the deep need for Jesus in Linn Co. We have recognized that once you pass Callao, there is no healthy non-denominational christian church like Crossroads on Highway 36 until St. Joseph. More people visit Crossroads from Linn Co than any other direction around us. Over the past year more than 140 people have checked in/attended Crossroads from west of New Cambria. One of the things we continue to hear from these families is a desire to find a healthy church with contemporary worship and relevant kids ministry like we have here. As we have prayed and sought the wisdom of others, God continues to open our eyes and hearts to this area. We believe that God desires for Crossroads to be more than a bigger church in our area. He has equipped us to be a church that takes bold steps to connect anyone and everyone to Jesus. Brookfield is the best location based on its distance from Macon and the makeup of Linn Co.

We don’t know the exact timeline. We are trying to move forward in faith but also do so wisely. Our first step was to meet with our leaders and spouses. Our next step was to meet with some of the families regularly coming from Linn Co. We are now bringing it to the congregation to join us in prayer about God leading us in this direction.

The ultimate measure of success is that lives are being changed. Are people connecting to Jesus? Are we actively loving the community in Brookfield? Are marriages being rescued? Are addictions being broken? Are kids excited about Jesus? Are families being restored? Are people excited to worship? Is the lobby full of laughter and conversation? Are we making disciples of Jesus? Any answer of yes to these questions means that we are being successful. At this time, an exact timeline or number that gauges success has not been determined. 

Our plan is that it will remain a part of who we are. It will just be another arm of Crossroads in the Brookfield community. We will be one church with multiple locations. We believe that unity creates the best picture of the church.

Initially, we will fund the expansion of a new campus. The mission is important enough to sacrifice to make this happen. As of now, we only have $28,630.37 of debt on our current building and are on pace to pay it off this fall.

That means we have paid off $937,036.53 in 8 years!

When this is paid off, it will open up some finances in our yearly budget but will also require a commitment from all of us to move forward. We hope that each family of Crossroads will consider joining us as we make this investment together. We pray that in future years, it will become self-sustaining. Just like we support other missions, we will give generously so people in Brookfield can experience the grace of Jesus in real and relevant ways. 

No, there will not be any cuts made to the ministry or staff in Macon.

Where we will meet is yet to be determined. We cannot take any steps forward regarding property or space without support from the congregation. We are diligently praying that God will open up the right space at the right time.

We are not ruling anything out. However, we do see the positive impact that can be made by buying and restoring a building in a small town. This investment can be an excellent way to love the community right out of the gate.

The staff in Brookfield will be new additional staff that will be hired for that location. They will live in Brookfield and be a part of that community. No current Macon staff will go to Brookfield. The staff we plan to hire for that location will work with our current staff in Macon for at least six months to learn who we are, how we operate, and how we live out our vision. They must learn us before they can replicate us. Volunteer leaders may fill some roles for a time.

To start a new campus, we will ask families in Macon to commit to going to Brookfield for a time to be part of the launch team. We know this will be a sacrifice, but we believe that Jesus’ mission matters this much. This commitment will be voluntary for families to serve on this team. 

Due to our desire to be one church with multiple locations, we will have one Eldership over both locations. The Elders in Macon will serve as the Elders of Brookfield as well. The healthy unity that has been developed in our Eldership at Crossroads is a gift. We don’t want to destroy this by forcing people into positions they are not ready for or willing to serve. 

Regarding the staff, the Campus Minister in Brookfield will report to the Lead Minister in Macon. The additional staff in Brookfield will report to the campus minister in Brookfield. 

A Sunday morning in Brookfield will look very much like Macon. We will have a welcome team to greet everyone, a fun conversational lobby, and live exciting worship. How the sermon will be presented will be different. It will be a video on a large screen of Matt or whoever is preaching in Macon. After the message, the Campus Minister will get up and lead into communion in a personal way that connects what was preached to the specific context of the people there. Video teaching will help accomplish two things: 1. It will help maintain unity between campuses as we will still all be Crossroads in different locations. 2. Without the responsibility of preaching each week, this will also free up the Campus Minister to spend more time building relationships with people in the community.

The children's ministry will look very much like it does here. We have already learned that a healthy environment for kids to learn about Jesus in a way that is exciting to them is crucial. From many that we have talked to, there is a need in Brookfield for this. Our kids' ministry will have welcoming faces to check kids in, teaching them that they can connect too, and fun activities for them to invite friends to. 

Our student Ministry, while it may take some time to fully develop, is a space where students can feel safe to be themselves and ask challenging faith questions. We are here to walk alongside them as they explore and discover Jesus. As we launch, we are committed to building strong relationships with the schools, demonstrating our love and support for the families in our community.

Our vision is this will stay up all week long. We will be in the community as a constant place for people to learn to follow Jesus and walk through the brokenness of life.

While we will be one church in two locations, combining will be difficult. Honestly, it is a challenge right now in Macon to combine all three services. Many things that work in Macon won’t necessarily work in Brookfield, and what works in Brookfield might not work here. There will always be invites to different programs or opportunities for people to travel in either direction. 

Some resources, trips, or opportunities will be shared. Student trips during the summer, church camp, VBS resources and volunteers, mission trips, and nights of worship can be great opportunities to work together.

Some of this is yet to be determined, but we will set up meetings with local schools and community leaders to build bridges and be an asset to the Brookfield community. We have had a Loving Our Community team in Brookfield for the last two years, but this will become a bigger opportunity in the future. We will encourage those working now to find new ways to help meet unmet needs in the community.

For more than five years the Elders and staff at Crossroads have been praying about this possibility. We have had special meetings to wrestle through the hard questions of what this might look like. We have had intentional times of prayer together. Two years ago in our operating budget, we put a small amount of seed money to begin to explore this more seriously. This year in our operating budget, we budgeted a full-time staff salary knowing a hire would not me made, but to prepare to work towards that goal. We have strategically reached out to people in Linn Co. to get their thoughts on this potential. We have also shared a meal with some families who drive here every Sunday to hear their thoughts and questions.

Our next step is to pray together as a church. Listed below are some of the areas in which we can focus our prayers. While there are many things we do not know, one thing we know for sure is that if God is not on our side, it’s not a place we want to be. We want to follow his lead in obedience to live out his mission together!