Crossroads
Crossroads Community Church
Crossroads Oakley
Location3500 Madison Road, Cincinnati, OH 45209
CountryUnited States
DenominationInterdenominational
Weekly attendance34,000
Websitecrossroads.net
History
Founded1996
Founder(s)11 families
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)Brian Tome
Pastor(s)Vicki Diller (Columbus), Andy Reider (Anywhere), Lena Schuler (East Side), Terry Phillps (Florence), John Gillispie (Lexington), Tim Senff (Mason), Greg McElfresh (Oakley), Matt Castleman (Dayton), Steve Tilling (West Side)

Crossroads is a multisite interdenominational megachurch in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was named the 4th largest and fastest growing church in America in 2017,[1] with over 34,000 average weekend attendees. Crossroads has 9 physical locations in Ohio and Kentucky, and an online streaming platform where over 6,000 people watch services weekly.[2]

History

In 1990, Procter & Gamble brand managers Brian Wells, Jim Bechtold and Vivienne Bechtold started a singles Bible study in Hyde Park, Cincinnati. It quickly grew to over 100 people and they wondered if starting a church made sense.[3]

After five years in the junior high auditorium and a growing attendance, senior leaders raised funds to purchase an empty supercenter. It was renovated into an auditorium seating 1,200. The construction was done by Megen Construction Company, completed a month ahead of schedule within budget.[4]

Champlin Architecture did the architecture for the first renovation with Megen Construction, and also did work for the second phase. Phase two expanded the auditorium, tripled the size of the childcare facility, and modernized the design. The new design is “raw, edgy, contemporary.” [5]

Beliefs

The church is considered interdenominational,[6] although some on staff refer to it as evangelical.[7] The core beliefs pull from a variety of Christian denominations and the church believes in the Bible as the inspired word of God and the final authority on all matters of faith.[8] The church is classified as Unclear: Non-Affirming with their LGBTQ policy,[9] and the Senior Pastor Brian Tome has indicated that homosexuality is a sin.[10] The church also opposes abortion,[11] and supports local anti-abortion organizations such as the Eve Center.[12]

Locations

Crossroads has 7 of their own buildings, each with a campus pastor, including Crossroads online location, Crossroads Anywhere. Crossroads also has a presence in 6 other cities, where people gather in rented spaces or homes.

List of Crossroads locations and cities:

In early August 2023, Crossroads has announced that their Uptown location will be reimagined. It will no longer have weekend services, and instead be renamed "The George" and be turned into an event center, hoping to be more enticing for outside bands, comedians, and acts to book the location for a live event.

Crossroads has also announced that the construction of their official Dayton building. Members of Crossroads Dayton are currently meeting in a high school.

Undivided

Undivided is a six-week program designed to encourage candid discussions around racial issues in small groups of people of different ethnicities. The initiative was launched out of the Crossroads Oakley campus and has grown across other Crossroads sites. As of June 2018, 3,000 people have gone through the program.

On June 12, 2018, the Undivided program received national attention when Crossroads Oakley's community pastor Chuck Mingo was on the front page of the USA Today for his work launching the program.[13]

Crossroads Students

Crossroads Students is a youth ministry for grades 6-12, aiming for students to "be themselves and have authentic conversations about God".

Crossroads Students is split up into two grade groups, dubbed "MS" and "HS". MS is for students in grades 6-8, and HS for high schoolers in grades 9-12.

MS services are held during sunday morning services while HS services are held independently later in Sunday evening. Crossroads has recently announced that HS services at their Oakley site will be held during their Thursday night services instead of Sunday nights like all other sites

Crossroads Students services take place in their own "student section" within Crossroads locations. When it comes to production, Crossroads itself is usually run by actual staff members. But with Crossroads Students, the sound, lights, graphics and cameras during services are typically run by students themselves (while under staff supervision), while the actual content itself is prepared by staff before service.

Crossroads Students locations have their own "Site Directors". These people aren't exactly pastors, as the teaching is usually given from different guests each week. Instead, they are the people responsible for the student section at their site. They schedule the volunteers for each weekend, as well as work with other sites to coordinate future sermons, and lots more

List of Crossroads Students Site Directors:

References

  1. ^ "CROSSROADS CINCINNATI: THE FASTEST-GROWING CHURCH IN AMERICA, 2017". Outreach Magazine Top 100. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  2. ^ "Our History". Crossroads Church. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  3. ^ "What Would Jesus Disrupt?". Bloomberg. Bloomberg Businessweek. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
  4. ^ "Crossroads Church, Oakley Campus - Cincinnati, OH". Megen Construction Company. Archived from the original on 2018-04-10. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  5. ^ "Crossroads Oakley Worship Center". Champlin Architecture.
  6. ^ "Crossroads FAQs". Crossroads Church. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  7. ^ Mingo, Chuck; Watts, Lynn; Jackson, Troy (17 March 2020). "This Evangelical Megachurch in Ohio Isn't What You Think". The New York Times. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  8. ^ "About Us". Crossroads. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  9. ^ "Crossroads Church on ChurchClarity.org". www.churchclarity.org. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  10. ^ media, crossroads (Sep 2, 2019). "Chris Seelbach | The Aggressive Life with Brian Tome". Crossroads Media. Archived from the original on 2020-09-19. Retrieved 2020-09-03. I do believe [...] that history is clear. That the way we create life is a man and woman having sex. And that says something about our sexuality. I look at somebody that has same sex attraction like you. And I look at you [Chris Seelbach], the way I look at me with other desires I have, that aren't necessarily right, and I would not want to follow through with those desires.
  11. ^ "Coming to grips with my abortion". Crossroads Media. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  12. ^ "There's Something Better Than Your Vote". Crossroads Media. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  13. ^ Curnutte, Mark (12 June 2018). "Christian churches still struggle with race, how to discuss it, what to do". USA Today. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
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