10 JULY 2026 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition PASTOR PROFILE Talk with Dr. Jon Elswick, senior pastor of Crossway Church, and the conversation quickly turns to collaboration. Even the church’s origin story and current location on the campus of Sheridan House Ministries in Davie exemplifies their unified approach to impacting South Florida. Formerly serving as creative arts pastor at City Rev Church in Pembroke Pines, Jon told his then-pastor Robey Barnes he sensed God was calling him to plant a church. How is the launch of Crossway a story of partnership and generosity? Crossway is a church plant from two churches: Spanish River Church in Boca and City Rev Church. Spanish River is incredibly committed to planting churches, and they were key in funding Crossway. When I shared with Robey that we wanted to plant a new church, he did an amazing thing. Rather than seeing our new church as competition, he chose to get behind us by financially supporting us and sending out a group from City Rev to start Crossway. By God’s providence, on our first Sunday, January 10, 2010, City Rev moved into their current building. Even though they sent 10% of their congregation with us, they grew on day one. It’s a beautiful example to me of how God blesses unity. What decisions changed the trajectory of your church? My Doctor of Ministry dissertation was on the impact of Bible reading among infrequent readers. Research confirms regular engagement with Scripture is the single most transformative spiritual practice available. For us as a church, Bible reading is a big piece of who we are. One of my desires is not just to preach messages that inspire people to read Scripture, but to practically teach them to engage Scripture through the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer). We’ve worked hard to build Scripture engagement into the rhythms of the church. Another decision that impacted our trajectory took place when we started. From the beginning, as an adoptive family, we’ve had a heart for foster care and adoption and the most vulnerable in our community. Our partnerships with organizations like 4KIDS, Every Mother's Advocate (EMA), and Sheridan House have been a vital part of shaping our trajectory as a church that doesn’t just exist for ourselves but exists for our community. How does your church reflect and serve an area as diverse as South Florida? If you look at the stage on a Sunday morning, the leadership is going to look like Southwest Broward County and that's beautiful. Our approach to serving our community runs through the concept of shalom, the Hebrew word for peace. Shalom is not only the absence of conflict but “everything as it should be.” “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is the first petition of the Lord's Prayer. We pray that heaven invades earth so that South Florida looks more like heaven. That happens spiritually. No one can have true shalom without a relationship with Jesus. Part of shalom and impact in the world begins with having a heart for the spiritually lost who are our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers who are far from God. Shalom also happens practically through our ministry partnerships by hosting community backpack drives and toy drives, a Habitat for Humanity build partnership, and ongoing work with local organizations. Serving our community is central to our mission to make disciples who love God, love others and then go out and impact their world. What keeps you up at night when you think about the future of the Church? I think about AI, social media and the massive cultural shifts our kids are navigating, and I ask, “How do we make sure the next generation is rooted and grounded in the Word of God and in an experience of knowing Jesus that's real?” We believe that Jesus changes every generation, and we’re working to see that happen in our church. Tell us about your family. I met Melissa in 2000 just a couple days after she had gotten radically saved. We got married in 2002 and have been in ministry together ever since. She is on staff at Crossway, overseeing outreach, women's ministry and communications. She is my first call when an idea surfaces, and I need discernment. An extraordinary galvanizer, she leads Sisterhood, Crossway's women's ministry, which has catalyzed remarkable leadership among women in the church. We have two sons adopted from Taiwan: Ethan, 16, who plays football at Calvary Christian Academy, and Joshua, 13, who plays basketball and football. We love to spend as much time together as we can – whether it's getting away in North Carolina or Georgia or supporting the kids and their games. That’s what takes up most of our time these days. When it comes to ministry, we’re all in together, it's a family effort. What does being involved in Church United mean to you? One of the greatest gifts for me in ministry here in South Florida is my relationship with other pastors in Church United. I often tell my pastor friends in the area that it’s one of my dreams that we each would go the distance and make it to the end of our ministries loving Jesus well and loving our families well. To do that, you need other ministry brothers who are cheering you on and who will be with you in the good and bad. Church United has been a space that has helped cultivate those relationships for me. Where do you see God moving most unexpectedly right now? In the last 18 months, we've seen more people come to faith and get baptized ever before in the journey of our church. The Holy Spirit is going before us, drawing spiritual seekers — people willing to have honest spiritual conversations. I am hearing stories of this happening throughout our broader community as well, and I think Crossway is just seeing a piece of what the Spirit is doing. We’re sensing that there is a growing spiritual openness in the community, so this November, Church United has more than a hundred churches across Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties doing a joint sermon series: Who Is Jesus? This series will be an opportunity for churches to introduce Jesus to unbelievers and reintroduce Jesus to those in our churches. We want to see every square inch of South Florida transformed by God's presence. To learn more about Crossway Church or for service details, go to Crossway.Church Jon Elswick Every Square Inch: Jon Elswick and Crossway Church Anitra Parmele GOOD NEWS Senior Writer
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