The Crossing to open new church on West Jackson
Stephen Geinosky
Issue date: 4/27/07 Section: News
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Originally from Quincy, The Crossing hopes to expand its fellowship into Macomb with the new church.
The Crossing's pastor, Jerry Harris, said that because Quincy is not growing, the church feels it must expand to other communities, Macomb being the first.
"There will be a point in the future when we will saturate the community," Harris said. "The only change will be from people moving in and out of town. We saw that as a limitation, and we got this idea of going multi-location."
Harris points out the similarities between Quincy and Macomb and how the direction of the church should fit its new home. Both have colleges and traditional values.
Harris is quick add, however, that The Crossing will not be a college ministry. He said the church hopes to reach both students and members of the community.
"We try to stay away from the 'clique' attitude," Harris said. "We try and knock all those barriers down, and we try to create an open-ended community."
He also said that because Macomb is limited in its activities, the church will fill a void in the community.
"There aren't a whole lot of options in Macomb, so having a lot of things to do can bring some traction," Harris said. "Macomb is our experiment - it's a million dollar experiment."
Yet, it is an experiment Harris said he feels will succeed. The Crossing originated in Quincy with only 230 members and is now 2,300 strong.
"Coming from a community that hasn't grown, you wouldn't think that a new church could grow, but it has," Harris said.
Harris also attributes the increase in members to the atmosphere within the church. In the 1970s, The Crossing broke away from its traditional roots and decided to go after what Harris calls the "un-churched."
"We went through this change with the desire to reach people that did not have a relationship with Jesus Christ," Harris said.
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