cp_identityOn the last day of our Kidmin Road Trip, Sam and I got a chance to visit Cross Point Church in Nashville. Cross Point is where Pete Wilson is Pastor. Sam follows a few of their staff on twitter, so sent several of them direct messages to arrange a meeting for Sunday morning. Originally we were planning to visit our friend Gina McClain on Saturday and visit Jim Wideman’s church on Sunday. Unfortunately, Gina had sick kids, so we spent Sunday with Jim and started making last minute plans for Sunday morning.

So Sam and I drove up to West Nashville to visit Cross Point. We attended the first service and got the grand tour by Pat Rowland during the second. What a great church! I’ve followed Pete Wilson’s blog for some time now, so I was excited to see the church. The campus pastor of a new campus they were launching actually preached on Sunday. It was a fantastic service and they were packed to the gills. Everything was great!

What was really interesting though was the location. This campus was their main site, but even it was a leased facility. Several years ago they found an old Baptist Church that had experienced significant loss in attendance compared to the size of their facility. It was a small congregation of mostly elderly people barely keeping their church afloat. The building was in disrepair and barely being used to it’s potential. Cross Point came in and changed everything. Cross Point was a rapidly growing facility that needed more space, so the existing congregation moved into their chapel, which was big enough to handle their crowd and Cross Point essentially took over the rest of the building. Even for what they’re doing, the building is a tight fit and for a first time visitor, it could be a little confusing of where to go. However, that doesn’t seem to have slowed their growth. There is a definite sense of excitement all around that facility.

Pat Rowland is the Next Gen Pastor, overseeing everything from kids to students. They’re using the full suite of reThink curriculum from First Look to XP3 for Students. Pat really has a great vision for connecting with parents. They’re using the curriculum, but also creating extra content for families to do at home with special missions and tasks that the kids and families seem to be excited about. Pat has several kids, so he’s really used his experience as a parent to influence how they’re reaching families. When something they’ve produced for families to use isn’t seeming to work in his own family, he makes adjustments. It’s really cool to see his passion to reach families as a reflection to make a difference in his own family.

They also have a great Family Experience theater in their gym. They do the family production once a month and their stage transforms every week from the family experience set to a different set for their student ministry. they’ve made great use of their space.

I’m so glad we go to visit Cross Point. Connecting with Pat was invaluable and seeing what they’re doing in their community was beyond helpful. I look forward to connecting with Pat at the Orange Conference and continuing the conversation. If you’re ever in Nashville, be sure to stop by and visit, you’ll be glad you did.