Highlights from 2025
Hello Holy Cross Partners! Happy New Year!
Wow we are blessed. As 2026 dawns upon us we are reminded our coming King indeed will come again. We have every reason to start 2026 with great hope!
As I think about our future as a congregation, I am first awestruck at God’s faithfulness in our 80 years. Even as we consider what God has done this last year in 2025 (it’s hard to believe I started this year as a Vicar finishing my seminary training), we are reminded God remains as faithful as ever. A lot has changed, but God is still good!
I wanted to take the chance to "boast" in the Lord’s faithfulness and update you on some of the highlights of the last year (and why I am so excited about 2026).
It was in March 2024 that our leadership team did an exercise under the direction of our newly appointed Executive Director, Dr. Henry Graf. We did what is called a SWOT analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). It became overwhelmingly clear (almost 100% unanimity), with sticky notes to prove it, that we all agreed the greatest need at Holy Cross was for alignment and clarity!
I can tell you we are hard at work on getting organizational clarity around our shared story of mission and aligning our staff, systems and structures at all levels. I'd like to get there yesterday. But it is important to remember we are in a time of transition. It wasn’t long ago that Mark Lange, our long-term Executive Director, retired. Thankfully Henry Graf, with Personnel Director Scott Hinton (and our incredible financial team), along with our Principal Emily Johnson (a constant during a time of transitions), have stepped up to help us turn the operational corner to be ready to grow.
Obviously Pastor A also recently retired. He continues to be a source of encouragement for our pastoral staff as we prepare for the future. We have some exciting things on the horizon. We are currently in the search for a Senior Pastor, we are in the middle of a building campaign (whoo hoo), we are preparing to open up a new Preschool campus, and much more (updates below). God is as good as ever! We have some incredible opportunities Partners in the Gospel of Holy Cross in the year of our Lord 2026.
As we prepare for that future, I believe we will get the clarity we all desire through God’s faithfulness. It may take a few years, but I am confident that year by year we will get there! As we build a culture of trust and make disciples, God will build His Church. Again, this update is just the tip of the iceberg on what incredible things God has done this year alone:
Some 2025 highlights...
Rooted in Christ & Reaching Across Generations
Amazingly, we have already received 59.5% of our $4.4 million goal as of December 31 ($2,612,338, with a total pledged of $3,934,554). That is absolutely incredible! Thank you Holy Cross for your faithfulness. God be praised.
He continues to use the school ministry to bring people into His Kingdom. By increasing the visibility our preschool entry point, we increase the opportunities to introduce new families to the love of Christ! We are grateful for the chance to grow our school campus and look forward to how God will use it.
2. Building Update
As we reflect on a year of growth and activity at Holy Cross, I want to assure you of the stewardship of our physical home. Our campus is more than just limestone and mortar. It is the foundation for our worship, the classroom for our children, and a gathering place for our community.
I am proud to share the following key wins in our facility stewardship this year:
Infrastructure & Air Quality: We completed a comprehensive re-roofing project, performed total HVAC maintenance, and repaired sewer and crawlspace venting to ensure a dry, healthy, and climate-controlled environment.
Safety & Security: To protect our students and congregation, we serviced fire and safety systems, upgraded outdoor lighting for better visibility, and adjusted campus door locks and security hardware.
Learning & Community Spaces: We resurfaced the gymnasium floor, refreshed the playground with paint and mulch, and upgraded our core Wi-Fi network to fully support modern student technology and church operations.
Efficiency & Care: Beyond visible updates like exterior painting and landscaping, we rebuilt restroom fixtures to ensure operation and reorganized our storage areas to ensure compliance with safety and fire codes.
We are deeply grateful for your continued generosity, which allows our campus to remain a beautiful and safe beacon of faith for all who enter.
3. Staff Updates
We have made great strides in the past year to take better care of our staff, our most important resource at Holy Cross. Here are just a few things:
I was ordained and installed on June 15th. We installed Pastor Dan Kinley (Pastor of Care) and Deaconess Stephanie Kinley (School Counselor) in the summer as well. We look forward to Vicar Jacob Koehler's ordination very soon!
We increased the staff salary base by 6 percent for everyone.
Added a HSA match program and matched over $45,000. This is money in our teams pockets.
Implemented a PTO program for the teaching staff to take time when needed like small vacations or mental breaks.
Added a FT maintenance person for daily issues.
God continues to bring us incredible people, we will continue to do our best to support and encourage them! I encourage you to continue praying for our staff. Encourage them. Lift them up. The work they do day after day is inspiring!
4. Senior Pastor Call Committee
Our Senior Pastor Call Committee has been selected and began officially meeting in November. We are currently waiting on the Indiana District Office to submit names for the Committee’s consideration. Pray for the group and that God will give us collectively the wisdom to discern what is best (Phil 1.10) for His mission and ministry at Holy Cross.
5. Community Outreach
We are blessed to be a blessing. It really is that simple. And I am happy to report Holy Cross has been a blessing to our Fort Wayne neighbors and beyond in many ways:
In February students and members packed 21,384 meals for Project 216
We collected 1,207 cans of corn in November for King’s Community Outreach
We also sent 111 boxes to Operation Christmas Child in November
We packed 325 school backpacks full of food for Bloomingdale Elementary
Our school-wide collection for four Christmas Bureau families received more gifts, food, and clothes than ever (we filled the Welcome Ctr w gifts).
Preparing to launch our friendship model of support with Children’s HopeChest Care Point in Chicacao, Guatemala (details coming soon).
Again, God be praised!
6. 80th anniversary ~ Save the Date (Sunday, May 17th)
I'm excited to announce our 80th Anniversary Celebration with ONE big service on Sunday, May 17th, 2026 at 10 am with a 12 pm picnic to follow. More info coming soon.
Thank you Holy Cross faithful! Do not underestimate the power of your prayers. We all face so many distractions and entanglements that seek to get our gaze away from Christ our Lord. Pray specifically that we can continue to stay focused on Him and our mission to make a Christ-like difference in the world in the things we mentioned above (Rooted & Reaching Campaign, Our Buildings, Our Staff, our Senior Pastor search and our 80th Anniversary). I'm certain I forgot a few things, if I did let us know so that we can celebrate them.
Thank you and may God’s peace in Christ be your guiding light. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Rev. Chad Van Meter
Associate Pastor of Community Engagement