From Church Planter to Megachurch Pastor: Daniel Fusco’s Unlikely Journey (Part 2)
In an increasingly post-Christian culture, Daniel Fusco is focused on more than church growth. He is leading Crossroads Church with a bold, unconventional vision. From building a thriving global digital campus to emphasizing baptisms over attendance, Fusco challenges traditional metrics of church success.
Drawing from his books Honestly and Upward, Inward, Outward, he offers practical insights for pastors seeking to reach the unchurched, disciple believers, and navigate ministry in a diverse, complex cultural landscape.
In part 1 of the interview, Daniel Fusco talks about “getting spiritual,” how a dreadlocked church planter became a megachurch pastor and how to do church leadership succession in a healthy way.
Describe your ministry context.
Vancouver, Washington, is the northern neighbor of Portland, Oregon, right over the Columbia River. Portland is probably the most liberal city in America by pretty much any metric. Vancouver is where our main campus is, though we do have a campus in Southwest Portland that’s doing well. Like Portland, Vancouver is probably 65% hyperliberal and 35% the exact opposite: 4×4 trucks and gun racks. It’s your quintessential never-been-Christian context, with lots of post-Christians from around the country who have moved here.
Crossroads is a real subsection of where we live. There are people in their 90s who’ve been walking with Jesus twice as long as I’ve been alive. There are kids with tattoos. Married, single, divorced. Our county is 94 percent Caucasian, but we’re very multiethnic. There are long-term Christians and people who just chose to follow Jesus last week—or today. We’ve had to designate an outdoor smoking area, which speaks to the fact that we’re reaching people where they are. It’s a beautiful mass of humanity.
Crossroads also has a significant digital ministry. What are you learning about doing church online?
Our internet campus is our largest. We serve about 15,000 people a weekend on our internet campus as our services are happening. At the end of every day they’ll take a picture of the map of the world, showing where people tuned into Crossroads from. People watch and connect from all over the globe—on pretty much every continent, and all through the 10/40 window. We’re reaching the world from Vancouver, by the thousands.
Look, I’m married with three kids. My wife’s only making it to church twice a month because … there are three kids. One of them is always sick! The numbers say that the average person goes to church 1.8 times per month. And when they’re not there, it’s not always for the reasons we think. By taking what we’re doing and putting it on the internet campus, our people can join us even when they’re traveling, on vacation or whatever.
What we didn’t realize is that it would also be the single greatest feeder for Crossroads. I meet people every week who join us in person but first “met” us online, connecting with our volunteers who message them or call them. In another generation, this was radio. Then it was TV. Now it’s the internet.
