CrossWay Evangelical Free Church of Fort Dodge

Gabe Casciato Senior Pastor / Elder

As pastor for family life, Gabe Casciato's goal is to help students and their families come alive in Christ. His passion is helping others find what they are gifted and called to do for the kingdom of God. Gabe's a graduate of the University of Iowa and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and joins our church after serving as a youth pastor and church planter in central Iowa. He loves authentic relationships, teaching that makes a difference, and bad puns ("It's hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they take things literally"). Entertaining his humor are his wife and three young children. And if that's not busy enough, Gabe is also a lieutenant colonel for the Iowa Air National Guard, a fourth-degree black belt, and an EMT.

DAVID Puruolte

pastor of worship and discipleship

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ROLLIE Peterson
ELDER board chairman

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Tim Fink
elder board vice Chairman

Brian Norine plans and leads the music for our worship services and Wednesday nights with our youth. His favorite part of that role is selecting lyrics that are clear and foundational--about grace, forgiveness, and God's mercy. Brian's not just comfortable behind the microphone, guitar or drums; he also enjoys getting behind the lawn mower, a garden hoe, and a paintbrush. He works really hard, so hard, in fact, that he continued to lead worship one Sunday morning while unknowingly having a heart attack! Brian and his wife have two adult sons who share their parents' musical talents.

Gary Schwendemann
Elder

As church secretary, Margaret Shields helps with the day-to-day needs of CrossWay. She loves how her encouragement and support role can contribute to the spiritual growth of our church. When she’s not busy being assistant extraordinaire, she loves to teach, particularly children. She was the first teacher hired at Community Christian School in Fort Dodge. She and her husband also like to cheer on the Iowa State Cyclones with their grown children, who all live in Ames.

Jim Baumer
ELDER

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Dave Sorenson

ELDER

Emily Thompson manages our church's communications and visitor enfoldment. As a word nerd, she has a particular passion for watching how good communication can help church ministry life flow. Her favorite part of her job is helping newcomers find their home at CrossWay, as she did when her family moved here from South Dakota. By day, Emily hangs out with the guys in the office, and by day off, she hangs with her three guys at home: her husband and two sons. She also recently completed her master's degree from Sioux Falls Seminary.