Our Next Chapter: Leadership Transition Update
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Praying for our Leadership Transition
On Sunday, October 25, Marty Grubbs announced his decision to step down as Senior Pastor at Crossings.
After 45 incredible years of leading Crossings, Marty has thoughtfully and prayerfully prepared for this next chapter. He has invested deeply in building a gifted leadership team. He and his family will remain an integral part of our church family, and he will be transitioning into a new ministry role as Senior Pastor Emeritus, which includes continuing to preach on occasion as part of our teaching team.
On November 1, Elder Board Chair Terri Greenly, announced the Board of Elders’ unanimous recommendation to change from a single Senior Pastor to a two Lead Pastors structure, as well as the individuals recommended to assume the Lead Pastor roles: Blake Bastin and Cole Grubbs. They are both already known and loved by our congregation, are already playing key roles in our leadership, and have complementary gifts and experiences. They trust each other deeply, and their relationship has been forged by 20+ years of combined ministry at Crossings.
Blake and Cole will lead the church together, both reporting directly to the Elders. While they will each oversee specific areas based on their experience and giftings, they will both be part of the Teaching Team and will work together to support our pastors and congregation.
The new leadership structure and the approval of our two Lead Pastors will involve the entire Crossings family.
Blake Bastin has been overseeing the vast scope of Crossings ministries and operations in an Executive Pastor capacity, working directly with Marty and our pastoral teams. He came to Crossings over ten years ago after a strong call to ministry, following an earlier career in the mining and oil and gas industry in Houston and Australia. Blake holds an MBA from Rice University, and is finishing his Doctorate of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary.
Blake has a deep passion for biblical teaching, ministry strategy, organizational leadership, and expanding God’s kingdom. Beyond his pastoral role, he serves as an advisor on the Board of Crossings Christian School and as a board member for two partner ministries. Blake is married to Kim, Assistant Principal at Crossings Christian School; they have two children, Easton and Samantha.
Cole Grubbs has been serving in worship leadership at Crossings for over ten years, overseeing various aspects of our worship and creative teams in a Central Worship Pastor capacity. He is a graduate of Belmont University, where he gained valuable multisite church experience serving two respected Nashville-area churches before joining Crossings staff. He facilitates our Teaching Team process, partnering with our Teaching Pastors to develop our sermon series and overall teaching approach.
Cole brings a deep passion for authentic and engaging worship, cultivating a vibrant creative culture and carrying forward the values that have defined Crossings for over 67 years. He has played a key role in the ministry planning behind our church's expansions, helping ensure Crossings stays one church in multiple locations. Cole is married to Karlie, who is also a Worship Pastor at Crossings; they have two young children, Remi and Andie, and are expecting a third in 2027.
While this is a significant transition, our hearts remain focused on serving our people, our community, and our mission partners with the same devotion we always have. Please join us in praying for:
Marty, his wife Kim, and their family as he transitions into his new role as Senior Pastor Emeritus
The nominees and their families as they step forward in faith, asking God to grant them wisdom, humility, and strength for the days ahead.
Our Board of Elders, pastors, staff, and entire Crossings family as we prayerfully embrace our next chapter and God’s plans for our future as a church.
Q&A Session from November 8
Elder Chair Terri Greenly and Lead Pastor nominees Blake Bastin and Cole Grubbs answer some commonly asked questions about our leadership transition plan.
No. Marty is not leaving Crossings. After 45 years in ministry, Marty has prayerfully decided it is time to step down from the Senior Pastor role. He and his family will remain an integral part of our church family, and he will be transitioning into a new ministry role as Senior Pastor Emeritus.
While he’s stepping back from daily operational decisions, he isn’t going anywhere—you’ll still see him on stage as part of our Sunday Teaching Team and actively championing new ministry initiatives across our church. We are thankful to keep benefiting from Marty’s leadership, wisdom and heart for our church.
After 45 incredible years of leading Crossings, Marty has thoughtfully and prayerfully prepared for this next chapter. He has invested deeply in building a gifted leadership team. Because of that, our leaders are fully prepared to step into greater responsibility while keeping our mission, vision, and values at the heart of Crossings.
With this transition, we will be shifting our leadership structure from a single Senior Pastor to two Lead Pastors, which will require a vote to change our bylaws.
As we look to the future, our Elder Board has spent much time in prayer considering how to steward the incredible growth of Crossings.
With five locations, two clinics, prison ministry in 22 facilities, local and global missions, and a Christian school, our church’s reach has grown immensely. Marty built this footprint over time, but asking one individual to carry that whole load is neither wise nor sustainable and would not result in the best possible leadership of each critical aspect of our church.
A two Lead Pastor model allows our leaders to encourage, sharpen, and support one another—multiplying our impact while keeping our church centered on a team, not a single individual.
According to our church bylaws, the Elders serve as the official Nominating Committee responsible for discerning and recommending new leadership.
When Marty shared his heart to step back, the Elders intentionally took time for prayer, discernment, and careful deliberation. This process led to a unanimous decision to recommend internal leaders who are already known and trusted by our church family.
The Elders waited to present this transition to the congregation until a clear, fully considered recommendation was ready, protecting our church family from the period of uncertainty that often accompanies leadership changes and allowing us to evaluate a complete path forward.
Marty fully supports this two Lead Pastors model and the Elders’ recommendation of Blake Bastin and Cole Grubbs as those Lead Pastors.
The next step is for the congregation to participate directly in the process as we pray, process, and vote to confirm the Elder’s recommendation on November 15.
Looking to the future, our Elders wanted a team that could lead Crossings well into the next chapter and recommended Blake and Cole as Lead Pastors. By pairing two Lead Pastors with complementary gifts in preaching, worship, discipleship, and organizational leadership, we set our church up for a healthy and fruitful future.
The Elders had many requirements for these two Lead Pastors, including:
Under our church bylaws, the Elders first look within the Church of God (Anderson) movement when seeking new leadership. While other candidates from the movement were discussed, the Elders quickly realized that, given the unique size and scope of Crossings, leading our church required individuals with direct experience with our specific ministries.
Having served closely alongside our staff and leadership team, the Elders recognized that Blake and Cole bring the ideal blend of gifts, experience, and long-term vision for the next generation. They also bring deep humility, valuing and supporting the outstanding pastors already faithfully serving our congregation.
Blake and Cole will pastor Crossings together. They’ll share the leadership of our staff and congregation, and together they’ll guide what we teach, seek God’s direction for our future, and walk alongside our elders. They’ll carry the vision, culture, and values of Crossings into every ministry and every location, and lead every major decision side by side. They’ll collaborate on all things, and each will also give focused leadership to specific areas of our church.They will collaborate together on all matters but both will focus on their specific areas of strength and organizational responsibilities.
Blake will focus on the health and growth of each of our locations, helping every location make disciples who follow Jesus. He’ll make sure the life of our church is stewarded with integrity, from how we’re governed to how we care for our staff and resources. He’ll also lead us outward through our ministry partners and future expansion.
Cole will focus on how our church gathers to meet with God. Every weekend, worship, teaching, media, and communication come together to tell the story of the gospel clearly and consistently. Cole will shepherd that experience at every location, so that wherever you walk in, it’s Crossings DNA.
No, the mission and vision of Crossings Community Church will remain unchanged. We will continue to be a church dedicated to helping people find and follow Jesus. As we transition leadership, the Board of Elders are dedicated to ensuring our mission, values, and core beliefs stay the same as we remain one church family.
Blake and Cole have been deeply involved in shaping how we operate today, and they will continue leading us forward with the same heart, vision, beliefs, commitment to mission, and trusted pastoral team.
We expect church operations, ministries, and programs to continue as usual throughout this transition. The Leadership Team will oversee day-to-day operations and decision-making as Marty transitions out of those responsibilities.
While no staff layoffs or position eliminations are planned as part of this transition, there will be several changes to our organizational reporting structure, focused on who specific departments and individuals report to. Our priority is to ensure stability, continuity, and a smooth transition for our staff, congregation, and the ministries we serve.
The primary difference you’ll see is more live preaching from your local pastors and our Teaching Team (which Marty will continue to be part of), similar to our recent series in Philippians and the Discipleship Pathway.
We are prioritizing live preaching at every location, featuring pastors who know you, understand your community, and minister alongside you every day.
There will also be times we broadcast one message to every location: when we need to be together as a whole church, when we have special guests, or when there’s a specific message we want our entire church to hear at once. Live teaching will be focused on the same Scripture and key truths each week at every location—keeping us unified as one church across all locations.
Any modification to the church bylaws must be approved by the congregation. The Elders of Crossings regularly review the church bylaws and, since 1999, have made 14 separate adjustments to the bylaws, all of which were approved by the congregation.
The modifications now being recommended for approval focus on enabling the option of having a leadership model for the church that encompasses multiple Lead Pastors rather than one single Senior Pastor. The following section is recommended to be added into the church bylaws:
Associated with the update of a dual leadership model, the Elders recommend making minor wording adjustments to the following sections to include specific language for “Lead Pastor(s)” that previously only referenced “Senior Pastor.”
If you desire to review the entire Church bylaws document, including the specific changes being requested that are summarized above, please contact Josh Klossner at JKlossner@crossings.church to set up an appointment.
Following an affirmative vote, new roles will be effective on January 1, 2027. Blake and Cole will work to transition the responsibilities with Marty over the months of November and December to enable a successful transition in January.
Please submit questions to nextchapter@crossings.church. The most common questions will be answered during Our Next Chapter: Q&A session on Sunday, November 8 at 5:00 p.m. on our website.
Through this transition, we will communicate updates with the congregation through church emails, Sunday announcements, social media channels, and the website.
You're also welcome to reach out directly to any of our pastors or staff. Our team is excited about this next chapter, and we are in this transition together. So please feel free to reach out, and we’ll gladly help in any way we can.