We recently connected with David Welker and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, David thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.

I’m the lead pastor of a local church in Urbana, Ohio called the Crossway Vineyard. As a local church we support organizations that bring life to our community. Some of those organizations are Safe Harbor, which is an organization that empowers women toward healing and equips them with life skills and quality living. These are women coming out of abusive relationships. We also support the Urbana Youth Center, providing a positive trajectory for at risk youth, so that they can accomplish amazing things. Another local organization that we support is the Sycamore House, a pregnancy & family life center.

Our reach goes beyond our borders, as we support Victoria’s Children, an orphanage in Kenya that provides basic care such as food, clothing, medical care and a safe place to live.
We are directly involved in the Amazon Region of Brazil, working with the Xingu Mission, that along with several areas of help provided self sustainable concrete water filters to Amazon villages on the Amazon River and its tributaries.
Did you know that about 4 million people lack access to safe drinking water even though they live on the Amazon river?
The lack of clean drinking water in the Amazon is a major issue that affects millions of people living in the region. Many of the rivers and streams that serve as the primary sources of water for communities in the Amazon are contaminated with pollutants and bacteria, making them unsafe to drink. The problem is compounded by the fact that the region is home to many indigenous communities that rely on these water sources for their daily needs and do not have access to clean water from other sources. The lack of clean drinking water in the Amazon has serious consequences for the health and well-being of these communities, as it can lead to waterborne diseases and other illnesses. We support an initiative that delivers Biosand Filters by river boats. Biosand Filters help remove harmful parasites, viruses and bacteria found in the river water and give them fresh hope free of sickness and disease!

David, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I began to pastor in my early twenties, serving as an assistant & associate pastor in two different Vineyard churches in Northeast Ohio. From January 2017 to June 2022 I served as a senior pastor of a Vineyard church in Mankato, MN. In August of 2022 I began to serve as lead pastor of Crossway Vineyard Church in Urbana, Ohio. My heart as a pastor is do communicate and demonstrate God’s love to our community and to equip our local church to do the same. As an empowered community we’re seeing families move towards hope as they’re introduced to faith in Jesus. Broken areas of our life begin to experience healing and wholeness in faith in Christ, lived our and realized (becoming an individual’s reality) in a faith based community centered on Jesus and the Bible. We learn to extend mercy and hold one another in grace.

Our posture as a church in communicating God’s love to our community is through a posture of serving others. We do that by meeting the felt needs of our neighbors (such as providing groceries) to serving the community by organizing clean up days in our downtown area. We model our community involvement after Jesus and he communicated kindness, compassion and love.

Have you ever had to pivot?

There have been a handful of times throughout my life that saw my plans change as circumstances opened up the opportunity for unplanned direction & trajectory. I’ve learned to hold my presumptive plans loosely. After serving as the pastor of a local church in Mankato, MN for more than five years, some in the church decided to pursue a direction apart from my leadership. My wife and I moved to Mankato from the Cleveland, Ohio area. As Christians, we seek God’s guidance for direction in our life. Even though other Vineyard churches almost immediately reached out to me and I began talks about possibly filling the role as senior pastor in their church, my wife and I prayed, asking Jesus if He still wanted us to serve in a pastoral capacity. We were open to working outside of the church, if that was our path going forward. Very quickly we found ourselves in conversations with some wonderful churches and ultimately ended up where we’re at today. We couldn’t be happier.

I think it was important for us to lay down what might have been some presumptions and be open to what God had next for us. To really live a life dependent on God for all things, including our vocation, where we live and how we serve.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Changing gears a little bit, having an online presence is more important than ever for an organization, business and even a church. When it comes to a church, years ago it was commonly understood that a church’s website is their “foyer” or entry area. It’s the first impression that interested folks will have of your church (or other organization). Over the years that’s grown to not only a website, but your social media presence has become just as, if not more important. For churches in particular, covid changed how we understand people’s behaviors and expectations they have when it comes to online interaction. Our church has put effort in establishing a Facebook page and Instagram account that represents the life of our church. Sharing events, pictures and resources that communicate who we are and what we care about. We also have a YouTube account that we’re seeing has a broader impact than just our church and even those in our community checking us out. We post our Sunday messages on YouTube and we’re seeing that platform grow as a resource for others from all over.
Social media has given us a platform to communicate who we are in a variety of ways and has broadened our reach as a church.
For those just starting out, I would recommend that you begin with where you’re at. Make it personal and be intentional about creating a presence that communicates your beliefs, vision & values.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.crosswayvineyard.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crosswayvineyardchurch/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrosswayVineyardChurch
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-welker-079904ba/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/CrosswayVineyard/videos