For Brandon Smith, it was the teaching at Crosspoint City Church in Cartersville, Georgia, that influenced his decision to join the congregation in 2014.
The married father and grandfather says that Lead Pastor James Griffin’s no-nonsense preaching on topics such as biblical marriage hooked him from the day he first visited the church.
“It was a lot more teaching here. Instead of preaching at, he was teaching to,” affirms Smith. “He calls it the way he sees it, and I think that’s more of what people need to hear these days, especially the youth.”
The church that would become Crosspoint City began in 2006. As Griffin explains it, five years after its launch, the pastor at the time wanted to plant another church. He asked West Ridge Church in nearby Dallas, Georgia, to take over the Cartersville congregation as a campus.
Not long afterward, in 2012, Griffin relates how he was called to pastor the Cartersville congregation under the West Ridge umbrella.
Then in 2013, West Ridge released the church, which was relaunched as Crosspoint City Church.
And the church grew, with people driving across northwest Georgia to come to Crosspoint City.
“We just knew that if we were going to keep reaching people in the northwest Georgia area, we had to start thinking bigger than just Cartersville. We couldn’t just try to get people to one spot,” he notes.
So, they launched the Adairsville location in 2019 and another one in Rome, Georgia, in 2021.
For its services, the church streams Griffin’s sermons live to all three campuses, each having their own location pastors. “The location pastors are the point leaders on the ground,” Griffin explains. “They are leading staff. They are responsible for pastoral care and ensuring the congregation has what they need to do what we’re calling them to do.”.
“They carry a lot of weight, and a lot of responsibility in terms of equipping, empowering and leading the staff. So, I lean on these guys heavily to ensure that things are happening across the locations as they need to,” Griffin adds.
He attributes the church’s growth to several factors such as preaching, teaching and worship, which he says is always a big draw.
“I think that has helped us tremendously. One of the pieces of feedback that we get regularly is that people come because they’re hungry for biblical preaching and teaching, which is humbling and honoring, and we praise God for it,” he states.
Additionally, Crosspoint City operates the Compassion Center, a volunteer-run nonprofit that offers a range of services, including a medical clinic and a day-use center where the unhoused can grab a shower, wash their laundry, charge their cell phones and rest.
“We just had a ton of people show up because they’re seeing the church at work outside the walls, and that has been an attractive thing. People want to be part of it,” Griffin says.
The COVID-19 pandemic also inspired the church to improve its online engagement, he acknowledges. “When we had to shut down, it really forced us to go back to the drawing board and think more intentionally about what we were doing online. So, we just took everything to a new level.”
“Now, we meet people all the time who show up in our church saying, ‘We’ve been watching online’ or on Instagram or ‘We listened to the podcast’ or on TikTok. We’ve got a ton of people who come because of that,” he adds.
And, after years of ministry, Griffin knows the importance of being consistent in what he calls, “running the play,” strategies and methods for fulfilling a mission.
He observes how leaders are too quick to toss away a method or strategy rather than giving it time.
“What I’ve learned is that if we’re consistent over time in running the play that we believe will be effective in accomplishing the mission, make the necessary adjustments along the way and stay committed to it, eventually, the fruit will come.
“And we’re seeing that right now.”
