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About Us |
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| It All Started With A Dream
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| | Early Years
According to earliest records, we were born on January 25th, 1911 and initially met at NE 79th and Glisan in the heart of Montavilla, then a suburb of Portland. By that summer, 60 names were on the church roll.
In 1935 an awakening came to the Montavilla congregation when ministers Walter Stram and then A. Word, Sr. began creating new standards and goals. There soon came encouraging additions and then even multiplications.
| | | | | New Challenges
A two alarm fire hit our building on October 15, 1966, wiping out the roof, attic, balcony and second floor offices, leaving the auditorium and classrooms untouched. With thousands of contributed dollars and labor hours we were able to move into a 10,000 square foot church building 19 months later.
In 1972, Tom Burgess and his wife Esther, began a growing trend that continues to this day. The numerical growth did not come, however, until much spiritual maturing had been achieved. Soon, the new building of six years was outgrown.
| | | | | New Horizons
Property was purchased on 102nd in 1977, excavation begun in '78, construction started in '79. Workers jumped in...week after week, month after month, until 11 months later, on December 2, 1979, we were in the building - just barely, but we were in a classroom - all 232 of us! The auditorium had not been started and the gym had not been finished.
By April, 1980 the Gym was completed. Attendance grew tremendously and god laid in our hearts to build a sanctuary that could seat 1000... and that we should do it debt free. And we did, with construction taking seven years to complete. We moved in May 7, 1995.
In November of 2001 a ten year master plan was approved by the city. The first phase was to construct a 10,000 square foot senior center and food bank. These ministries dedicated their new facility on September 8, 2002.
Plans have been submitted to the city for phase 2 - a 20,000 square foot youth and children's center and education wing. $1,000,000 has been contributed toward this construction.
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| What God Is Calling Crossroads To Be
| | | | | There is no correlation between the size and strength of a church. Better is better - not bigger or smaller. God has called us to build a spiritually healthy church. Health produces growth. There is more than one way to grow a church, but it must always be based on Biblical principles, though methods may vary. If a principle is Biblical, we will use it.
We will not confuse the method with the message. The message of Jesus must never change, but methods will change.
All leaders must be learners. When we stop learning, we stop leading.
The single biggest issue of the new millennium is not church growth, but church health. The key to church health is balance.
Balance comes from understanding the Biblical purpose of the church. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21
To define the purpose of the church we ask four questions:
1. What did Jesus do in His ministry?
2. What are the Bible images of the church?
3. How does the Bible describe the New Testament churches?
4. What are the commands Christ gives us to do?
God has called us to a Great Commitment and the Great Commission in order to grow a Great Church. This defines five purposes:
1. "Love God with all your heart" - Worship
2. "Love your neighbor as yourself" - Ministry
3. "Go...make disciples" - Evangelism
4. "Love each other as brothers and sisters" - Fellowship
5. "Teach them to do" - Discipleship
The first church fulfilled these five purposes:
"(1) Those who accepted His message were baptized. (2) They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayer. (3) All the believers were together - they gave to anyone as he had need. (4) Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God. (5) And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:41-47)
| | | | | Crossroads - Why Do We Exist?
To Connect People to Jesus and God the Father.
Climate of acceptance
Relationship building
Offering good news
Seeker sensitive
Small groups
Real life preaching
Open to God's grace
All members ministers
Driven by purpose
Structured for growth
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