Love People into a Loving Relationship with Jesus Christ
A conversation with Rev. Lee Young
Tell us about your history at CrossRoads Community.
“I believe God has made clear the vision He has given me for this season of my ministry.” This is my 21st year at CrossRoads. God has blessed the ministry greatly over the years. I would say that the secret of such a long ministry is being obedient to God, allowing Him to grow His church as He promised, listening to Him as He provided the vision, and getting out of His way as He unveiled His plan and poured His blessings on us.
In the past few years CrossRoads has adopted 2 congregations in other communities. Where are they located and when did this start?
CrossRoads is currently working with six campuses. This is part of the vision God gave me to begin ten campuses within the next ten years. Our current campuses are:
- CrossRoads City South – San Antonio, TX(Original Campus)
- CrossRoads Uvalde – Uvalde, TX
- CrossRoads Leon Springs – San Antonio, TX
- CrossRoads Devine – Devine, TX
- CrossRoads Albuquerque – Albuquerque, NM
- CrossRoads Online Campus
The two adopted campuses are CrossRoads Uvalde and CrossRoads Devine. CrossRoads Uvalde launched their first service for the community Easter 2021 and will be celebrating their first anniversary Easter Sunday 2022. CrossRoads Devine is in the pre-launch process with an expected launch September 2023.
Why did CrossRoads decide to take this step of faith?
CrossRoads decided to take this step of faith in obedience to God. God led me to relaunch these campuses slated for closure as a campus of CrossRoads. It is hurtful to members of a church as well as their community to lose a church. To be a “Healthy” Church as stated by Thom Rainer and Dr. Aubrey Malphurs, churches must understand that we are to meet people where they are, while preparing for the future of the church. Methods may need to change, but there is no compromising on the preaching of God’s Word.
At CrossRoads we are helping all attenders and members understand that the secret to a life of success is to grow daily into the likeness of Christ. This is our purpose at CrossRoads, life transformation. Our mission is to “Love People into a Loving Relationship with Jesus Christ.” By adopting these churches and providing them with all of the support, tools, staffing and resources needed we are preparing them to continue their ministry by focusing on the future.
How has this partnership affected your local church and these new locations?
This partnership has helped all of our campuses see that God is still working and performing the impossible if we have faith and are willing to do as He leads. It also shows that much can be accomplished no matter the size, diversity make up or economic standing of the community. If you are operating under God’s will, He will guide your path. We are able to accomplish a lot by staffing at the central campus (City South) to support the vision and needs. We have three levels of leadership, the directional team, the central ministry team and the campus team. We have a great central ministry team whose role, besides supporting the City South campus, is to serve as champions and support in their area at each campus.
How are you developing new leaders as these ministries grow?
This is the great part of this vision, preparing future ministers for God’s work of the Kingdom. We are working to develop 150 ministers in order to meet this vision and to staff the positions needed for the 10 campuses. In order to do this, we understand that the traditional pattern of minister preparation may not provide all we need in order to fulfill what God is directing us to do. Many of our staff positions will need to be bi-vocational and individuals may not be able to pick up and move to another state to attend our Nazarene University or Seminary.
To meet the needs of the future ministers, we have built a support program that will assist them as they complete the course of study (whichever model they choose). This model provides monthly mentoring sessions and personal accountability. In addition, we have built an internship program, designed to provide participants with hands-on experiences in all areas of church leadership as well as a paid internship once they are placed on a launch team as a staff member. It is our goal to continue to build this component and to partner with our district and college so we can provide credit towards the course of study as well as college credit. We are building a cadre of personnel with credentials to realize this goal.
What is one piece of advice you would give to a pastor who is considering the idea of starting new campuses?
If God is leading you to start a new campus, obey Him. If it is His will, He will provide for you. “For the foolishness of God is wiser than Human wisdom.” I Corinthians 1:25