It Began in a Living Room
On July 29, 1956, a group of fifteen people met to consider forming a Presbyterian Church. The Presbytery of Milwaukee granted their support and on November 25, 1956, a service of organization and dedication for 69 charter members was held at the home of Richard and Cloyce Savidge in Mequon, where Sunday worship services were being held.
The Doedens Years
In February 1957, Reverend Paul Doedens was called as pastor and services were moved to Range Line School in Mequon. Every Sunday members carried in supplies for worship: a pulpit and partitions, hymnals, Sunday school supplies, a coffee pot and cups.
A year later, when the school could no longer be rented, services were moved to the Mequon City Hall, where often the fire whistle would go off during worship. It was time to start thinking about building a church of our own!
Building a Church
On March 6, 1959, the first worship service took place in the new building and less than a year and a half later, it became necessary to add a second worship service. This was followed a year later, in the fall of 1960, with a groundbreaking ceremony for a new sanctuary—what we now know as the Great Room.
Over the next eleven years, two more building projects were completed. In 1969, the Mack Wing was added to the south end of the original building. Funded in part by the Mack family, this addition included both the upper and lower level classrooms on the far south end of the building.
The Fireside Lounge and Music Room were added in 1980 on the north end to accommodate the growing congregation. Reverends Paul Hudson, Paul Bischoff, Chris Kohlbry, Richard Lonnee, Lisa Larson and Peggy Vogelsinger all served Crossroads during Paul Doedens’ tenure and contributed greatly to its growing ministries. Rev. Doedens retired in 1992, after 36 years of service.
The Manse
The manse was built in 1956. It is located opposite the upper parking lot. The Doedens family lived in the manse, which is adjacent to the church, from the time it was built in 1956, until the end of his tenure at Crossroads in 1992. Renovations and updates were made to the manse in the 1990s and 2000s.
The Gable Years
On September 1, 1994, the Reverend L. John Gable and his family began their ministry at Crossroads. Within their first year at Crossroads, a contemporary worship service was introduced along with Youth Club, our “mid-week miracle.” Many other new programs were added over the next five years, as worship attendance and membership continued to grow.
A visioning team was called in 1996, and our mission statement, “To Know Christ and Bring Others to Him” was adopted, along with a plan to build a new sanctuary and administrative space. On April 23, 2000, we celebrated Easter by worshipping for the first time in our new sanctuary!
During this time, Rev. Jeff Lincicome joined the Crossroads staff as Associate Pastor of Discipleship in 1999. Following Associate Pastor Richard Lonee’s retirement in 2001, a search began and resulted in calling Rev. Barbara Jordan to join the staff as Associate Pastor of Congregational Care in 2002.
The Church continued to grow, and the need for more program space became apparent, resulting in the Christian 365 Capital Campaign and another building project. The most recent building and renovation project was completed in September, 2004, which added much needed program space—the Christian Life Center, the Quiet Room, and the SHED. The SHED is a workspace for building projects and equipment, but its name also stands for Serving Him Every Day. Also part of the 2004 building project was a new kitchen and childcare area. The new childcare area led to the creation of the Crossroads Christian Preschool in 2005.
In November 2007, Rev. John Gable left Crossroads to answer a call to be senior pastor at Tabernacle Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis. On April 1, 2008, the Rev. Dr. Terry Swicegood arrived from Arizona to begin leading Crossroads as Interim Senior Pastor. He led the Session and staff until June 2009.
In December 2008, Rev. Dr. Jeff Lincicome responded to a call as Senior Pastor at Sammamish Presbyterian Church in the Seattle, Washington area. In May 2009, Crossroads welcomed Interim Associate Pastor Beth Neel to fill in the area of Discipleship. She chose to end her time with us in the fall of 2010, to spend time at home with her young family.
The Harrison Years
In June 2009, Rev. Dr. Tim Harrison was presented as a candidate to be the third installed senior pastor at Crossroads Presbyterian Church. Tim joined the Crossroads staff on September 1, 2009, and he was installed on November 29, 2009.
Rev. Karen Harrison also began in Feb. 2010 as Parish Associate; her responsibilities included adult education.
In May 2011, Rev. Steve Sherrill began in a newly created role as Associate Pastor of Youth, Children and Families. Also in May 2011, Rev. Barbara Jordan resigned her position after serving nearly 10 years. In July 2011, Rev. Randy Frank, a member of Crossroads, began in his role of Director of Caring Ministries.
In September 2012, the pastoral relationship with Rev. Dr. Tim Harrison ended, which also ended the employment of his wife Karen. Rev. Sherrill also ended his call with Crossroads at this time.
In this season of transition, worship was led by the shared leadership of Rev. Bill Johnstone of the Presbytery of Milwaukee, Rev. Randy Frank, and Michelle Henrichs, a Crossroads member for ten years, who was under the care process and support of Crossroads during her Masters of Divinity program at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.
In March 2013, Rev. Bob Sheldon began leading Crossroads as Interim Pastor. In June 2013, Rev. Randy Frank resigned from his position and returned to being an involved member of our church. In November 2013, Rev. Marilyn Gamm began as Interim Associate Pastor.
The Years to Come
We are now in the process of discerning where God is calling us to go in this next season of our journey with Him.