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Brief History
CrossWalk took root as a young adult ministry within the Azure Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church in Grand Terrace during the early 1990s. Pastor Morris Venden was serving as senior pastor at the time. Out of a desire to help the young adults in the congregation feel more connected within the church, Pastor Venden opened up his home on Friday evenings for a small group to gather for Bible study and fellowship. The weekly event was well received and soon the gatherers began to refer to themselves as the “Young and the Restless.”
The Friday evening gathering soon outgrew pastor Venden’s home and moved to the Azure Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church and also expanded to include a Sabbath School class. Leadership emerged in the process of these developments and one of these leaders, a volunteer at the church, Tami McGrew, became the director of this ministry. Her role included facilitating weekly Sabbath school classes for the group. However, as attendance increased, Tami found the ministry taking up more time. In 1994 the church asked Tami to join Azure Hills' staff and she became a full-time pastor for young adults, enabling her to give more attention to the ministry. Within a few years, the Young and the Restless formed a reputation as a safe place for young adults to explore their faith and reemerge into a Seventh-day Adventist congregation.
In 1998, Tami accepted a call from the Southeastern California Conference to pastor the Riverside Seventh-day Adventist Church. A Young and the Restless volunteer, Gary Walters, became director and provided stable leadership until Azure Hills hired a new pastor to replace Tami.
Michael Knecht, then serving as a young adult pastor at the Hindsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church near Chicago, replaced Tami in 1999. Soon after his arrival in 1999, the Young and the Restless went through a series of changes that would eventually lead to where the congregation is today.
Also during this time the leadership decided to change the name of the ministry to “CrossWalk.” The new name was to convey the idea that CrossWalk is a community walking in the way of the cross.
In 2000, CrossWalk gained momentum as weekly worship attendance rose and financial resources increased. Cheryl Lake was hired part time to assist Michael with the ministry, and a core leadership team was developed.
In 2001, the fellowship hall of the Azure Hills Church, where CrossWalk held their services, was expanded to allow more room for growth. By the end of the year, over five hundred people were in attendance each week.
During that year, a vision committee at Azure Hills did a study to determine the feasibility of an addition to the church. Part of the plan was to give CrossWalk more room to grow. In the end, the committee determined it was unlikely, as the city of Grand Terrace would not give the church the proper permits to expand the building. CrossWalk’s leadership, along with the pastoral staff and leadership of Azure Hills, began to explore the option of a satellite campus. Up until that point, a church plant had never been considered.
In 2002, CrossWalk discovered that a non-denominational church called The Rock, in the city of Redlands, about five and half miles from Grand Terrace, was in the process of building a new church campus and planned to vacate their property when the new campus was completed in 2003. The Rock was leasing space in a business park near the I-10 freeway and Mountain View Avenue in the city of Redlands. Already equipped with adequate worship space, classrooms, and offices, including a large warehouse, the location seemed perfect for CrossWalk.
As CrossWalk’s leadership discussed the option with Azure Hills' leadership, everyone felt this was the best choice, and moving plans were underway. As these events were unfolding, CrossWalk’s pastoral team grew significantly. A second pastor, Samir Selmanovic, was added to CrossWalk at the end of 2002. Samir came from New York City, where he had led an urban church during the five previous years. Samir and Michael shared senior leadership and teaching.
A third pastor was added six months later. Jessica Robbins had recently finished a Bachelor of Arts in Education and was preparing to work on a Master’s degree. Jessica was asked to join the staff and develop the Sabbath school and spiritual formation programs for CrossWalk.
CrossWalk received approval of the plans to move in the summer of 2003. The congregation immediately began planning the transition, which involved the development of children and youth ministries. The presence of families at CrossWalk had increased over the years. It was no longer only a young adult ministry. Until then, these families had utilized the children’s ministries offered by Azure Hills.
As CrossWalk’s leadership considered the enormous task of starting these ministries, its leaders began a six-month conversation with parents and others to explore what children’s and youth ministries might look like on the new campus. Through this process The Vine programs were developed.
CrossWalk took over the new facility in November of 2003 and after a few short weeks of nonstop painting, carpeting, remodeling, and moving; services began December 6, 2003. Over the next year Crosswalk’s Vine and service attendance more than doubled. With the growth in attendance as well as the large responsibilities of managing the facilities, programs and ministries of a congregation this size, more staff was needed. Laura Hertel, a long time CrossWalk member and volunteer, became the full-time financial and operations manager in spring of 2004. In early 2005, pastor Jeff Gang was hired. Phil Mathew joined the staff as facilities coordinator in the summer of 2005. The following summer, 2006, Christianne Duarte joined CrossWalk as the office assistant.
In June of 2007, Samir moved back to New York city to start an independent ministry. In the fall of 2007 Jessica announced her plans to leave CrossWalk to finish her M.Div degree. Saying goodbye is never an easy thing for a community, yet during the search process to find a replacement for Samir, two people emerged who were hired at the beginning of 2008: Wade Forde and Genevieve Koh.
CrossWalk’s history is dynamic and fluid. Many people have come before you to influence and shape this story and we are glad that you are now a part of the CrossWalk family story and are grateful for the unique fingerprint you will leave on this community. Growth and change are a part of life and a church community. As CrossWalk engages with scripture, people, and our context, we are always moving to join with the unique work of God in our time and place.