PEORIA MAGAZINE October 2023

S P O T L I G H T

AT A CROSSROADS Crossroads Church in Washington stepped up big-time following the devastating 2013 tornado, and it continues to be a ‘beacon of light’

BY THOMAS BRUCH PHOTO BY RON JOHNSON

O n a warm Sunday morning in November 10 years ago, more than 600 people filed into Crossroads Church in Washington for that morning’s service. A typical service would find a few hundred more in attendance, but many churchgoers backed their cars out of the garage, saw the ominous storms approaching, and promptly retreated back into their homes. As soon as that morning’s worshipers entered the church, they were ushered into a shelter space within the church as tornado sirens blared. The faint sounds of debris hitting the roof were audible as everyone huddled together. Emerging from church once the all clear was given, the congregation viewed the destruction the tornado wrought on the nearby subdivisions. Improbably, Crossroads incurred minimal damage. Even the vehicles in the parking lot escaped relatively un scathed, although 13 dumpsters even tually were filled with debris that had fallen on the church’s sizable property. A fortuitous connection to Caterpil lar set in motion a quick transition for Crossroads to become a hub of relief efforts in the deadly tornado’s wake. Donna Cimino, the executive direc tor of the church since 2012, said that some church members routed a gener ator to the property, with electricians volunteering to plug it into the main electrical line. A small amount of power was restored.

“We try to be a beacon of light in this community,” said Tim Lee, director of contemporary worship arts at Cross roads. With Washington plunged into dark ness that first night, residents said that the light from Crossroads was all that was visible. THE RELIGION OF RESILIENCE The histories of the town of Wash ington and the church now known as Crossroads are almost inextricably linked. Washington was established in 1825. Three years later, a Methodist preach er on horseback named Jesse Walker founded the church that would become Crossroads, with support from the civic leaders of the time. For the vast majority of its history, the church resided near downtown Washington on Elm Street, in a small brick building just off Washington’s his toric Square (in a building now run by Cana Event Venue). But by the 1990s, the congregation began to discern that Crossroads might need to grow into a new worship space. Through years of research and prayer, the congregants settled on the current Crossroads location off U.S. Route 24 and built the structure in 2000. Seven years later, as the church continued to experience growth, several new com ponents were added to the building, including the current sanctuary space,

classrooms and activity spaces for a preschool and more. Crossroads’s roots remain an integral part of the church. Several genera tions of Crossroads members can be found attending services and activities throughout the week, and a traditional worship service is still held at 8:15 a.m. every Sunday. In an era when the national trend sees old churches, parishes and con gregations on the decline, Crossroads is an uncommon story of perseverance. “I feel humbled to be part of a church that is that resilient,” said Ja son Woolever, the pastor of Crossroads. “We value the past. We value tradition.” A native of Charleston, Illinois, Woolever studied guitar in college and moved to Austin, Texas in the 1990s to be part of the music scene there. But his life’s trajectory turned when he became deeply involved in a church there. “I really met Jesus in a powerful way there,” Woolever said. “And it really re directed my life and what I wanted to do for a living.” He felt a new calling, going to semi nary to become a pastor and meeting his wife before returning to his home state to serve in churches in Illinois. Now in his ninth year as pastor at Cross roads, Woolever is helping chart a new course for the venerable Washington institution. THE ‘MODERN’ CROSSROADS

78 OCTOBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE