Ministry Leaders
Jen Baldwin - Event Planning Ministry Leader
I have been attending CrossRoads since the day it's doors opened on Easter Sunday, 2007. My husband, Scott, felt led by the Lord to plant a church a few years previous to that. We started making changes in our lives to accomodate the extra time necessary for his schooling and for when the church doors would finally open.
We have been married for over 30 years and have four children: Emily, Samantha, Levi, and Eli. I love the job that God has called me to be as a homemaker and a homeschooling mom.
I accepted the Lord as my savior on April 21, 1974. My parents and siblings had all accepted the Lord the year before, we all took the next step in our profession of faith and were all baptized together in 1974. I grew up in a Christian home and graduated from a private Christian school in Perth, NY. My dad was a deacon and my parents were always very involved in church. When Scott and I married in November 1988, we started serving together in the youth ministry at the church we attended. Over the years we have served in many capacities....Children's Sunday School, Teen Ministry, Worship Ministry, Coffee House Ministry, lead worship at CrossRoads, and now God is calling me to lead Event Planning Ministry.
The goal of the Event Planning Team is to facilitate an environment for our church family to grow in relationships with one another and to deepen the connection and love that we have as a church family. What better way to do that than to do life together, get together as families, and to simply have fun? We have several events every calendar year at CrossRoads ranging from Beach Baptism, our annual C3 Picnic, periodic Evenings of Worship, Trunk or Treat, the Good Friday Service, and our Christmas Eve Eve service are among our favorites. If you like to shop around for the best prices, decorate, plan events, or serve your church family during events, please reach out to me in regards to joining our team. Those that currently serve don't even think of this as "work" because we have so much fun serving together.
Jesse Schuring - GLO Children's Ministry Leader
My name is Jesse Schuring, I grew up in a small village in Brazil to parents who were missionaries. I have been involved in church since I was a young boy and have became even more involved in church ministry as I have gotten older. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior when I was fairly young and attended Word of Life after graduating high school. Part of my Word of Life studies was an internship. Crossroads accepted me as an intern and I served there until 2020, when I was called to serve the Lord as a missionary with my parents in Brazil for a year.
After that year of missionary work, I moved back to the area and was again asked to come back and lead the Children's Ministry. I am excited to be here and enjoy seeing the kids grow more in their faith and knowledge of the Bible every week.
Dan Gardner - Athletics Ministry Leader
My name is Dan Gardner and I grew up in Cohocton, NY (a small town between Corning and Rochester). My parents became Christians when I was young and they became very involved in the church ministry of the local church we attended. Not only did my parents attend church regularly, they were faithful in teaching my brothers and me the Bible and how to live as Christians at home and during our regular daily lives. As a result, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior when I was a fairly young boy--it was important to me at the time, but partly I did it because it was expected and I do not think I understood completely what I was doing. Later on when I was a young teenager and I had a very good grasp of what being a Christian really meant, I was attending a Christian camp and “rededicated” my life to Jesus.
Fast forward a bunch of years and I am now married to my amazing wife Barb and we have a wonderful daughter named Johannah. We have been attending Crossroads since late 2015 when we moved from Massachusetts back to New York. My wife and I worked in the GLO Kids’ ministry here at Crossroads for a while as 3rd-6th grade teachers. Then, when God directed our beloved Kids’ Ministry leader Jesse to leave for a couple of years, I filled in as the leader of the Kids Ministry until he returned.
During the time our church was closed due to Covid, our church sanctuary was finished and we were able to move our meeting place out of the gym. This opened up a new ministry opportunity and I was asked if I would be interested in starting and running the Athletics Ministry. My wife and I prayed about it and also met with the church leadership to see if we would be a good fit. After some time of consideration, we decided that God opened the door for a reason and that I would (with a little nervousness and trepidation) accept the position. Along with the Athletics Ministry, we also work a lot with young adults by planning events and running a community group tailored for the 18-30 year old range.
In the past, I have been the youth group leader for Cohocton Assembly of God and also helped run the youth group at Crossroads Community Church in Fitchburg, MA (yep, same name but different church). I have always loved sports and have been involved in several ministries in my life that have used sports as a way to lead people to Christ. As the C3 Athletics Ministry Leader, some of my goals are to have fun, bring others together to create friendships and stay in shape. My main goal though is to reach a subset of the population that would not normally consider attending church with the gospel of Christ.
Ray Di Stefano - A/V Ministry Leader
Hello!! In 2018 I decided to take my Mom church hopping. We landed at a church in Gloversville, NY, where my Mom was saved and still attends; and where I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. That year I met my wife Carin, who moved up from Indiana and we decided to go church hopping again. One, because the Gloversville Church wasn't completely filling us and two, to find her beautiful daughter, Keri, a spot on a worship team. Well, after a few churches we ended up at CrossRoads, where we feft convicted and started attending.
My problem with the service? Well, there was an annoying buzz from one of the speakers and I was having problems listing to Pastor Scott give his message. Carin told me to ignore it, she also told me if I asked to fix the problem I would end up on the AV team. I couldn't ignore the speaker and the day I worked on the system was the day I was invited to come on board. I got a – I told you!! LOL. Not knowing anything about sound, video, or lighting but loving the challenge and people who were on the team, I jumped right in. All I can say is God is great and has truly blessed me with such a wonderful group of talented God fearing people. Last summer I was asked to lead this passionate team. I have to say my heart melts every time I walk in to the building were I get to serve along side everyone here. I'm not sure where God is taking me, but right now I am truly blessed to serve and do life with my group of piers. -Ray