Our Story

Our History

In 1918, three to four people met in their homes for prayer meetings, with an area minister coming twice a month to preach. From this small group, the Church of God Reformation Movement began in Newton, Kansas.

In September 1919, their first tent meeting was held, and a month later, the congregation of 10 purchased a building at 213 E Third St. In February 1920, Lucy Shepherd was hired as their first pastor. During her two-year tenure, the congregation grew to 37 and paid off their building.

The congregation purchased their first piano in 1922, and in 1930, the coal burning stove, that was in the middle of the sanctuary, was replaced with circulating heaters. In 1934, they began a Women’s Missionary Society. A 20x30 addition was built on to the building in 1935, with other improvements being made in 1936. A basement was dug in 1937, and the sanctuary was remodeled in 1941. A Home Coming service was held in 1943, and the congregation burned its two mortgages, making them debt free. In 1963, due to the growth of the church, the lot at the corner of Broadway and Fairview (our current location) was purchased. Fourteen months after construction began, the 9400 sq ft main floor, plus basement, was finished enough to begin using, with the first worship service being held on November 29, 1964. The church celebrated 100 years of ministry in 2018. 

During their 106 years as a church, they have had a total of 21 full-time pastors (two of them being women, Lucy Shepherd, and Sophie Mae Fluke), and 6 interim pastors. Pastor Glen Ferguson served the longest, 20 years from 1954 to 1974.

Our Story

In 2022, after 105 years of ministry, we decided to re-start our church. We ended all ministries, aside from Sunday morning worship, disolved all boards and committees, our pastor resigned, and a co-hort of Church of God pastors from various churches across the state, along with our state office, moved into the leadership role of our church. During the next year and a half, we examined who we are, what had gone right, what had gone wrong, and we prayed, dreamed and hoped for our future. We also began looking for our next pastor. With Pastor Jeremy called, hired and in place, we have begun to re-model our building, re-start some ministries, re-connect with our community, and are set to re-open on Easter, Sunday, March 31, 2024.

YOU are invited to join us. Not just for Easter Sunday, but to join us on this re-start journey, because we all need Jesus, we all need the church, and WE need YOU.

As of May 2024, we are officially and legally named Crossing Community Church. Praise God!

In December 2024, we paid of our parking lot debt!  A generous family member offered a $25k match, and another family member gave $25k to insure that we met the match. We had over $16k come in from family members, friends of the family and a sister church; receiving funds from Kansas, Colorado, Ohio and Kentucky. On Parking Lot Pay Off Sunday, we took in over $11k. These combined efforts allowed us to eliminate the remaining $77k on this loan. We're debt free!!!