Blessings and Growth
That first worship service took place on June 5, 1988 with nearly 250 people present.  Sunday school classes began a week later, separated from one another only by makeshift curtains.  Nurseries were formed by turning cafeteria tables on their sides at the end of hallways to form barricades.  Despite the rustic conditions, the church thrived.  Offices were opened in the basement of a building in downtown Raleigh.  In early 1989 we hired a youth pastor. By January of 1990, 800 people were regularly jamming the auditorium, which was designed to seat only 550.  In order to meet our need for more worship and educational space, we began meeting at Jesse O. Sanderson High School on March 11, 1990.  Sanderson had just built a brand new state-of-the-art auditorium with 800 plush theatre style seats, including plenty of room for us to triple the size of our choir, and lots lobby and classroom space. 

Building
God’s hand of blessing was evident in many ways.  Growth in numbers and staff continued through the next five years.   In May 1995 God miraculously intervened again, this time to provide us with a home of our own -- the Black and Decker Building (our current facility).  By fall 1996, construction began to build out 37,500 square feet of ministry space.  Our first worship service in our new building was held in December 1996.   In March 1997 staff moved into newly renovated office space.

Crossroads grew by leaps and bounds and in October 2000 a three-year stewardship campaign “Come, Open the Door” was launched.   This campaign was an effort to provide the most effective use of the building and finances that God has provided for Crossroads Fellowship and to enable the church to welcome all people from all backgrounds into open arms of love and support on their journey to a personal relationship with the Lord.  This campaign enabled us to build out an additional 67,000 square feet of ministry space.  We were also able to pay down a portion of our existing debt.

In May 2005, we launched our 5-Year Financial Freedom and Community Transformation Challenge to partner with God to transform the Triangle and the World. As part of this 5-year journey, everyone commited to do 3 things: 1) fix their personal finances; 2) finish our building; and 3) fund expansion of transformational ministries.  Everyone was asked to commit to sacrificial giving at least twice per year – once in the spring and once in the fall.  On these two Sundays, people sacrificially give beyond the tithe as led by the Lord.  This is our way of stepping back from the routines of life and setting aside a special time of remembrance and worship.  We see this as part of our journey to becoming Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus Christ.  Results after 5 years:  our people are financially free, the church has no mortgage, our building is completed and $1 million dollars has been invested in God’s work in our cities!

In September 2008, Crossroads celebrated its 20-year Anniversary along with a building expansion of another 50,000 square feet. 

Investing in People
Our goal at Crossroads Fellowship is to be people who Connect to God, Connect to One Another, and to Connect to the World AS we become Fully Devoted Followers of Jesus Christ…that is what we are all about!  This means that every aspect of our lives is centered on and around Jesus Christ.  As we work at our jobs, go to school, get married, have kids, serve in our community, coach soccer, go to the grocery store, etc….every moment we seek to live in submission to and the awareness of Jesus in our lives. 

Therefore, Crossroads Fellowship is people.  It is not buildings, or budgets, or programs.  From its inception, our church has intentionally invested its money in people, whether giving to the needy, sending missionaries to foreign population centers, hiring staff to minister in our community, or designing ministries that serve and nurture those in our family.  God has sent us people from every walk of life.  An ever-expanding array of ministries, outreaches, small groups, classes and ministries is evidence of Crossroads Fellowship’s belief in the importance of people.

Our Leadership
On April 30, 1995, our Founding Senior Pastor Billy Riggs resigned.  On August 17, 1997, Steve Breedlove was hired as our new Senior Pastor.  Steve and his family came to us from Canada, where Steve had served as Senior Pastor for 7 years.  Under his leadership our church grew, staff was enlarged and new building plans were developed to provide space for our growing ministries.

In June 2001, Chuck Milian became the Senior Pastor of Crossroads.  As a founding member, Chuck was privileged to be a part of forming the vision of Crossroads Fellowship since becoming a Christian over 20 years ago.   As a new believer he wanted to contribute in any way he could to the cause of spreading God’s Word and taking an active part in ministry.  He began volunteering to set up chairs for the weekly Singles Ministry event and over the years his faith grew and be began volunteering in the role of Sunday School teacher, starting a nursing home ministry, leading “SOLO” (a parachurch ministry that is now a part of Campus Crusade) and eventually became Singles Pastor at Crossroads Fellowship in January 1991 and then Executive Pastor in l997.   In June 1999 he completed his MA in Christian Ministry from Faith Evangelical Lutheran Seminary.  Chuck is passionate about helping people begin a relationship with God and seeing them grow to maturity as followers of Christ. 

Crossroads Fellowship now serves a constituency of over 6,000 adults, students and children with a weekly attendance in six worship services of 2000+ adults and 1000+ children and students.  Our core strategy for fulfilling our mission and vision is small groups.  We ensure that our focus is strongly on people, not programs.

2721 Millbrook Road · Raleigh, NC 27604 Phone: (919) 981-0222 · Fax: (919) 981-0520 Questions? Contact us at info1@crossroads.org