The CrossRoads Story

Crossroads Community Church was founded by Pastor Eddie Hammond in 1998. Eddie, originally from Illinois, had a heart to plant a church and met Ron Lucas, who was from Dugger, IN, at a church planting conference in Atlanta. The two struck up a friendship and felt God calling them to plant a church in Sullivan, IN. Eddie is an outgoing, friendly person and was often seen at local establishments inviting everyone to church. He was passionate to see people meet Jesus, and his love for people was contagious and became foundational to Crossroads.

From the beginning, Crossroads wanted to be a church that maybe didn’t fit the norm. Eddie wrote, “It takes different churches and styles to reach different people. We need to be flexible and do what it takes for every man, woman, and child in our community to hear and be able to respond to the Gospel.”  He wanted to remove the barriers that kept people away from church. The services were designed so that “people can come in and investigate claims of Christianity in a non-threatening way.”

After meeting in a local storefront, the church was able to move into the Sherman House Theater on the square and eventually purchased the building. The distinctive building fit the unique style of the church that offered seating at tables and encouraged connection over donuts and coffee. Eddie called it “God’s living room”—a place where everyone could feel comfortable and loved.

Pastor Eddie was supported by the Churches of God General Conference (CGGC), which is our larger family of churches that is spread out over the country, mostly from Iowa to the East Coast. The CGGC was founded by John Winebrenner around 1825 and has a rich history that we get to be part of. Within the CGGC each church has a great deal of freedom and autonomy.

One of the guiding principles is:

“In the essentials, there is unity.

In the non-essentials, there is liberty.

In all our beliefs, we show charity.”

For more about specific doctrines of the CGGC, please see the booklet called “We Believe” which is available at Crossroads or online here.

Within the church, God has given us leaders who are gifted to serve our body in various ways whether they are paid by the church or not. The Bible teaches that leaders don’t strong-arm and control, but instead serve the needs of the church by laying their lives down like Jesus did. They are often compared to shepherds caring for their flock of sheep.

Ephesians 4:11 says, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

We are grateful to have many excellent leaders from the pastors and staff to the elders and deacons that guide and serve us. At Crossroads we sometimes say, “every member a minister.” This reminds us that we are all called to serve and have special gifts and ways we can contribute.