CROSSGATES UMC CELEBRATES OVER 40 YEARS
IN CROSSGATES/BRANDON COMMUNITY
Crossgates United Methodist Church was officially organized June 10, 1973. The Charge Conference which met that significant day was presided over by the Reverend Robert M. Matheny, District Superintendent of the Jackson District. Officers were elected as required by the 1972 Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, and Crossgates United Methodist Church came into being.
Crossgates has been blessed with a remarkable history of growth. The original membership was comprised of sixteen founding families with a registered membership of forty-nine members. Those first members were willing to do whatever it took to start a church, even if it meant meeting in the Rankin County Poultry and Livestock Pavilion, which they did.
What a legacy we are given by such great people and clergy willing to do whatever it takes to share God’s love. Their lives were changed because they were willing to say yes to God. Our lives have been blessed because they were willing to say yes to God.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us,
let us also lay aside every encumbrance ...
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us
Hebrews 12:1(nasb)