In October, thousands celebrated the 20th anniversary of Crosswalk church in Redlands, CA. The weekend-long festivities included Friday worship, Saturday services, and a block party. Since 2014, Tim Gillespie, lead teaching pastor, and the team have hosted anniversary celebrations.
The weekend began with 600 worshippers at the Friday night service. Gillespie led a conversation with church founder Michael Knecht. The two spoke about the church's three core values: belonging, momentum, and experience.
On Saturday, almost 2,000 people attended the three daytime church services. Thousands more joined online. And that evening, Crosswalk shut down the parking lot for the annual block party. The block party boasted dozens of food truck options and music from a live DJ. Over 2,300 community and church members attended.
“God has blessed us beyond measure since I joined in October 2014," said Gillespie. “We’ve grown the church ministry from 85 to over 1,500 in-person attendees. We now have thousands more online worshippers and seven campuses worldwide."
Gillespie credits the church's growth to the grace of Jesus and the church's three core values.
“Our ministry transformed over the last decade,” said Gillespie. “The Holy Spirit and our values guide us. We foster belonging by loving and welcoming people without exception. We generate momentum by expressing love through actions. And we also create a full-body sensory experience at church.”
Crosswalk aims to center Jesus while learning to love well together.
“It’s been a privilege and an honor to serve the Redlands community,” said Gillespie. “We will continue to seek ways to lift people toward equity and show them what belonging is.”
For Gillespie, the 20th anniversary is significant. “We had the chance to either do bigger buildings or a bigger mission,” said Gillespie. “God called us to a bigger mission. For the next 20 years, we'll keep sharing God's love and Jesus Christ's grace. We can serve people in any union, conference, or division.”
